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Govt, Japan to Further Develop Human Resources in Legal Sector

To realise the government’s master plan of building the country into a state governed by the rule of law, Laos will continue to work with Japan to enhance their joint efforts to develop institutional and individual capacity in the legal sector.

This was the key message delivered by the Vice President of the People’s Supreme Court, Mr Khampha Sengdara, when he addressed the 5th Joint Coordination Committee Meeting of the Project of Human Resource Development in the Legal Sector (phase 2), held in Vientiane on Friday.

Mr Khampha said the project focused on implementing four activities: making civil law, writing handbooks on civil law and economics, writing handbooks on criminal law, and developing an education law institute.

The working group members comprised officials and lecturers from the Ministry of Justice, the People’s Supreme Court, the Supreme People’s Prosecutor Office, and the National University of Laos.

The group has systematically analysed legal theories and practical issues relating to the civil code, civil procedure and criminal procedure, and developing a handbook summarising the result of the analysis.

The group has explained how to use the handbook and its contents to institutions and officials/lecturers in the legal and justice sector.

The project has been implemented through a technical cooperation agreement between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Ministry of Justice, the People’s Supreme Court, the Supreme People’s Prosecutor Office, and the National University of Laos.

The goal of the project is to enable institutions and officials/lecturers in the legal and justice sectors and legal education to develop their institution/individual capacity to advance legal studies on Lao law on the basis of systematised analysis of theories and practices.

During the meeting, participants discussed the progress and outcomes of the project over its implementation period. According to the terminal evaluation team from JICA, the expected outputs are to be realised as planned in the project design.

Based on the evaluation criteria such as relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability, the project has been evaluated high or fairly high overall, said Mr Khampha.

The first phase of the project began in 2010 and ended in 2014, focusing on strengthening the capacity of institutions and officials in the Lao legal and justice sectors, as well as legal education.

The meeting was attended by representatives from JICA, the Ministry of Justice, the People’s Supreme Court, the Supreme People’s Prosecutor Office, and the National University of Laos.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Four People Killed in UXO-related Accidents over 10 Months

Four people have died and 11people have been injured in UXO-related accidents from January to October 2016, according to a report from the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao).

The report was disclosed on Friday at UXO Lao’s annual meeting to summarise their work over the past year and plan for the year ahead.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Dr Khampheng Saysompheng, UXO Lao Director Mr Thipphasone Soukhathammavong, and other officials.

An official from UXO Lao said that from January to October of this year there had been seven UXO-related accidents in which 11 people sustained injuries and four people died.

Three of the accidents occurred in Xieng Khuang province where two people sustained injuries and one was killed.

Another incident in Savannakhet province saw two people sustain injuries.

In Attapeu province, an explosion resulted in five people being injured and one being killed.

An accident in Khammuan province injured one person and killed two, while in Champassak province an explosion injured one person.

Explosions typically occur during the transport, dismantling or burning of UXO, or while villagers are working in their fields.

U XO Lao has worked with international organisations to clear UXO from 2,147 hectares of land, of which 93 percent is needed for farming and 7 percent for development purposes.

Some 84,402 cluster munitions were cleared, including 68,639 bombies and other items. On average, 21 bombies per hectare have been found.

UXO Lao’s target is to remove UXO from 3,200 hectares of land in the provinces of Huaphan, Luang Prabang, Xieng Khuang, Khammuan, Savannakhet, Saravan, Xekong, Attapeu and Champassak.

Addressing the meeting, Dr Khampheng said UXO Lao’s goal is to reduce the number of casualties and provide assistance to the survivors of UXO-related accidents.

During the Indochina War from 1964-73 some 3 million tonnes of UXO were dropped o n Laos, including about 270 million sub-munitions from cluster bombs and about 4 million aircraft bombs.

Tests in the United States have found that cluster munitions have a failure rate of up to 30 percent, meaning a large amount of unexploded devices still remain in Laos.

A total of 87,000 square kilometres of land are thought to be contaminated with UXO.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Beekeeping Trial to Sweeten Champassak Honey Production

Laos and Vietnam are to begin cooperation in a commercial beekeeping trial to boost honey production in Champassak province.

After the trial, the cooperative project under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) will be able to supply beehives and training to local apiarists.

National Project Director of the Sustainable Natural Resources Management and Productivity Enhancement Project, Mr Vinoth Vansy, told Vientiane Times that Vietnam is providing 250 beehives for the trial in Champassak province.

The trial is looking to locate hives where the province’s bees typically make honey, he said.

They expect to know the best areas for honey production after the end of this year.

According to the provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department, Vietnam is currently supplying large quantities of honey to EU countries.

The number of beekeepers in Champassak has declined in recent years due to insufficient market demand with some people abandoning their beehives and leaving them to the wild.

Today, some bottles of honey can be seen for sale in markets with the honey being sourced from the wild by local people.

Some Vientiane consumers are distrustful of local products believing it is blended with imported honey or other ingredients such as sugar and water.

They think that because there are now fewer beehives people are taking shortcuts to ensure sufficient supplies.

However, honey from the southern provinces is still in reasonable supply across the country, even though the peak honey season only occurs in April and May. At this time honey can be seen on sale in many markets, restaurants, guesthouses and hotels by the bottle or jarful.

People have varied uses for honey and it is a popular household ingredient. Many people put half a spoonful into bottled water to give it flavour while others use the honey as a healing product.

A common belief in Vientiane is that honey has a calming effect ensuring a good night’s sleep.

Honey is a natural product which is a safe and wholesome food for adults, children and the elderly. Apart from its great taste and general capacity for enhancing well-being, honey is a healthy substitute for sugar and can help combat obesity and diabetes.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Laos, Development Partners to Strengthen Ties for Effective Cooperation

Vientiane province : — Laos will need continuous support from friendly countries and development partners despite the significant achievements that have been made in socio-economic development in recent years.

High level government officials and local authorities revealed the circumstances at the 2016 Round Table Implementation Meeting, which ended yesterday in Vientiane provincial capital.

The meeting was titled Accelerating the implementation of the Eighth National Socio-Economic Development Plan (8th NSEDP 2016-2020) for Least Developed Country graduation and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Discussion focused on localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), effective development partnerships, food and nutrition security, green growth, as well as climate change and disaster response preparedness.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mr Somdy Duangdy noted the significance of the meeting taking place outside the country’s capital, and Vientiane province’s socio-economic conditions were explained to participants.

This shows the government’s effort in comprehensively pursuing local development following the Sam Sang (Three Builds) directive: building provinces as strategic units, building districts as comprehensively strong, and building villages as development units, Mr Somdy said.

He reminded the audience of the country’s continuing economic growth, which has been 6.9 percent over the past 10 months, and is predicted to reach 7 percent by the end of this year with income per capita at US$2,027.

Meanwhile, Mr Somdy also noted the internal and external impacts on the country’s economy such as the fall in mineral prices, the rubber price decline, and natural disasters, which he said seriously affected agricultural crops and exports, as well as revenue collection, which did not meet the planned target.

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Planning and Investment Dr Souphanh Keomixay stressed the inclusion of localisation of the SDGs into the national development agenda as well as at the local level, saying these should reflect effective use of money and labour in project implementation, and strongly support the participation of all sectors, including private businesses and residents.

He also proposed for such participation in the implementation of food and nutrition programmes with stronger and more harmonious coordination.

For green growth and climate change and disaster response preparedness, the minster pressed for the strategy to be realised following the government having ratified the United Nations Agreement on Climate Change.

Amendment of Government Decree No. 75 on Effective Development Aid Implementation was mentioned by Dr Souphanh as a real need, while calling for the ministry and other sectors to pay attention to the matter.

United Nations Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme Representative, Ms Kaarina Immonen, praised the government’s decision to provide a provincial location as the venue for this year’s Round Table meeting.

She congratulated the government for promoting Laos as the first ASEAN country to have submitted the ratification instrument in respect of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

She also praised the government as a champion in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the National Assembly’s engagement in policy issues regarding national development, and the newly founded provincial people’s assemblies as new advocates for the implementation of the NSEDP and SDGs at the local level.

Some areas to be considered for further consultation were revenue and public debt management, which Ms Immonen said required particular attention.

She said the government is encouraged in its commitment to the production of integrated transparent and accountable national budgeting and alignment with ODA growth.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

Group Visits Route to Freedom Taken by Leaders in 1960

Over 300 people gathered near Tadxone Waterfall in Vientiane’s Naxaithong district on Friday to trace the path taken by the 16 Lao Patriotic Front leaders who made a daring escape from Phonkheng Jail 56 years ago.

The breakout by the revolutionary leaders including Prince Souphanouvong, Nouhak Phoumsavanh and Phoumy Vongvichit was an extraordinary feat and is considered a significant event in Lao history which remains talked about to this day.

Among those joining the 2-km walk to trace the route taken by the Lao Patriotic Front leaders were Party Politburo Member and President of the Lao Front for National Construction, Dr Xaysomphone Phomvihane, and other leaders.

The crowd walked to a cave where Prince Souphanouvong and the other escapees hid before heading to the revolutionary stronghold in northern Laos.

The event was organised by the Lao Front for National Construction and the Vientiane Elderly People’s Association.

President of the Vientiane Elderly People’s Association, Mr Somphong Mongkhonvilay, told the crowd that the goal of the walk was to raise awareness among the younger generation and encourage people never to forget the valiant deeds of the revolutionary leaders who sacrificed so much for the nation.

On July 28, 1959, the American-backed Vientiane government arrested the 16 Lao Patriotic Front leaders and put them in Phonkheng Jail in a bid to suppress the revolutionary movement, Mr Somphong said.

During their time in jail, the group told the soldiers guarding the prison about the political views, revolutionary morale, spirit of patriotism and sacrifices of the revolutionary forces and eventually persuaded their guards to side with them.

Although our revolutionary leaders were in jail, they jointly signed a letter which they sent to the Phouy Sananikone Prime Minister-led government, requesting (the Vientiane government) to release them. But the Vientiane government did not care about the letter, Mr Somphong said.

Over a period of almost 300 days, the situation became more tense and the revolutionary leaders talked their guards into a position of sympathy so that they prepared an escape route.

Finally the leaders escaped in 1960 and headed to Naxaithong district, before walking to the north and the safety of the revolutionary stronghold.

To commemorate the courage of the 16 revolutionary leaders, the Lao Front for National Construction and Vientiane Elderly People’s Association published a book about the incident.

The book keeps alive the story of the leaders’ break for freedom and ensures that the younger generations can learn about the incredible story of their escape.

The book was written by Mr Buasy Chaleunsouk, one of the 16 revolutionary leaders.

A second edition of the book has been printed and earnings from sales will be used to build a memorial to the escapees.

 

Source: Vientiane Times

BCEL-KT: Trade Summary (Nov 25, 2016)

Trade Summary

At the end of the week, LSX closed unchanged at 1,014.43 point. The market generated about 211 million kip form the trading of BCEL shares. The banking shares today traded down at 5,000 kip. However, it managed to close unchanged at 5,100 kip with the total trading volume of 42,100 shares. In the meantime, other stocks saw no matching, with EDL-Gen closing at 5,000 kip, LWPC at 6,000 kip, PTL at 2,500 kip and SVN at 3,000 kip.

Changing Mekong Currents Compound Dam Anxieties in Southeast Asia

The government of Laos officially submitted the Pak Beng Dam to the Mekong River Commission in mid-November and has begun preparatory work around the future dam site. While this announcement appears to indicate that the government of Laos and international funders for more than 100 hydropower projects are continuing to move full steam ahead despite serious concerns from downstream countries and affected communities, emerging financial risks and regional shifts are increasingly impacting the risk calculus for future projects.

There are three regional factors disrupting the terrain for investment in large hydropower dams in mainland Southeast Asia. The first is the emergence of Myanmar as a competitor for energy sector investment. Myanmar is an underdeveloped country with significant hydropower potential of up to 100,000 megawatts (MW), nearly four times that of Laos. Western sanctions and domestic instability previously prevented hydropower from moving ahead in Myanmar, and as a result the Salween and Irrawaddy remain largely undisturbed.

Although internal political issues in Myanmar raise questions about the speed and extent of development that is politically feasible, investors are interested. The IFC is supporting a country-wide Strategic Environmental Assessment for hydropower development, and there have been a plethora of Thai-Chinese joint projects in the Salween River Basin announced in recent years. These projects will compete strongly for financing that previously may have flowed towards projects in Laos.

The second trend is the economic slowdown in China. China’s role in designing and constructing more than half of all large dams globally means that it would previously have been a likely replacement for any loss of funding from ODA donors or MDBs. However, there is emerging evidence that China’s economic slowdown may impact the ability of Chinese developers to get financing for large infrastructure investments abroad. Chinese banks were previously given political mandates to support projects abroad in strategic sectors such as hydropower, mining, and fossil fuels. Even in cases where financing analysts recognized high project risks, such as the Myitsone Dam in Myanmar, the political mandate and the influence of large investment companies meant that loans gained approval.

While supporting unprofitable projects was possible in years of fast growth, the central government is increasingly concerned over China’s rising stock of non-performing loans. As year-on-year growth forecasts drop to a range of only 6.5-4.5 percent for 2016, financial institutions in China are increasingly under pressure to rein in bad debt. China’s debt issue is now widely recognized, and concerns over debt prompting a recessionhave prompted greater consideration of risks by Chinese regulators.

This may lead to a drop in support for risky projects such as hydropower projects, where profit margins are returned over long periods of time, subject to shocks in electricity pricing and demand, and face long term maintenance costs. Anecdotal evidence shows this is already happening: China Export-Import Bank has a hold on loans for six hydropower projects in Myanmar until political issues over the Myitsone Dam are addressed. In Laos, Chinese developers are postponing the construction of some tributary dams due to the inability of Chinese banks to follow up on funding the continued development of projects.

This raises the question: if China becomes unwilling to fund the controversial and potentially risky projects on the Mekong mainstream, who will? All of the signed MOUs for mainstream Mekong hydropower are build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) projects. Neither Laos nor Cambodia has the financial strength to finance such large projects themselves. Practical concerns over losing money have led many Chinese hydropower companies to shift from the BOOT model, where they have to take on loans directly, towards a sub-contracting model that allows Chinese companies to avoid long-term ownership and management risks while continuing to export the design, procurement, and construction of dams.

This appears to be what happened with the Don Sahong Project, which is owned and financed by a Malaysian company called Mega First but will be built by Sinohydro. In other cases, Chinese firms may projects into joint ventures to share the risk: the Pak Beng project, which has been on the books as a Datang Hydropower project for years, has apparently shifted to a joint venture with a Thai company.

Finally, the severe drought in 2016 has highlighted the need for a more coordinated approach to water management throughout the basin. Food security and livelihoods have been impacted throughout the region and particularly in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, with up to half of the Delta’s paddy affected by encroaching salinization during the worst drought recorded in 90 years. In Thailand the 2016 drought prompted the government to announce intensive irrigation plans to draw water from the Mekong tributary system when reservoirs ran dry. This stirred regional controversy, as the diversion of water was done without consultation through the MRC and in the face of concerns from Vietnam and Cambodia.

The extreme challenges posed by the drought and growing recognition of emerging political and financial risks have brought the issue of optimization of resources to the forefront of the conversation about regional development. Climate change predictions anticipate more flooding and more drought in coming years, making optimization planning vital if Mekong countries want to efficiently operate cascades in an uncertain water future. According to one senior engineer at the Mekong River Commission, these risks mean Laos will likely only end up building five of the nine proposed dams, including Xayaburi and Don Sahong. This is not unanticipated—globally, most river basins do not proceed with construction for all proposed hydropower projects. This raises questions as to which planned projects will ultimately be built.

The time seems ripe for Laos to consider alternative development options and better cumulative project analysis to ensure that it makes the best decisions about which projects will move forward. There are emerging models and analytical tools that can explore multiple development scenarios and compare the benefits and costs across a variety of sectors, such as The Nature Conservancy’s Hydropower by Design concept. Utilization of these tools could help Lao decision-makers explore different development options that would provide similar amounts of power with differing levels of social and environmental impacts.

It is clear that the government will not end up with a hundred percent of the planned projects currently on the books and considered in its revenue plans. The earlier Lao officials start to consider alternative development scenarios, the higher the likelihood that high-revenue, low-impact options will remain on the table and the more strategic their decisions about which projects to pursue will be.

Courtney Weatherby is a research associate with the Southeast Asia program at the Stimson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

Source: The Diplomat

Rice Cooperatives still Held Back by Marketing

Lao rice cooperatives have made good progress in terms of their rice production efforts but marketing and sales deficiencies are still causing problems for the co-ops.

Agricultural officials and representatives from model cooperatives in the provinces of Xayaboury, Khammuan, Savannakhet and Vientiane are currently meeting in Vientiane to exchange experiences on rice planting techniques and discuss issues related to production and marketing.

Despite the government, especially the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, having launched various initiatives to encourage farmers to boost their yields through new techniques the sale of the surplus rice produced is still proving difficult.

Problems with marketing and sales include the instability of the rice price, farmers’ lack of understanding about rice standards and quality controls, planting of old rice varieties instead of those in high demand in regional markets as well as the lack of contractual arrangements between farmers groups and rice millers and marketers.

Some cooperatives are adopting modern methods including machines, especially tractors, even though most of their rice plots are small.

However some fields have not been properly levelled while there may be no good warehouses to store the rice after it is harvested.

New planting and farming methods, as well as better rice varieties, need to be adopted by farmers if they wish to increase their yields while larger and properly levelled rice plots are preferable where possible.

O f course, a reliable water supply is an essential prerequisite to the production of a good rice crop. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Dr Lien Thikeo believed that the seminar will help to promote the new rice production methods for expansion around the country in order to reduce capital and food security.

After the meeting, he stressed to agricultural officials to bring the problems for improvement and resolution in the near future.

Many farmers in different areas are still planting their rice crops by traditional methods, which result in reduced yields and large amounts of labour.

Still, thanks to the government’s efforts, each year farmers are able to produce yields that match the government’s plan and quantities have continued to increase every year.

Rice production in Laos for 2012-13 reached about 3.52 million tonnes while 4.12 million tonnes was harvested in 2015-16. This was sufficient for domestic consumption and a surplus was produced for export.

Next year, the government plans to expand the area of rice cultivation by 1.03 million hectares for a yield of 4.35 million tonnes with an average yield of five tonnes per hectare.

About 100,000 tonnes of the rice harvested will be used as seeds while 2.5 million tonnes will be used for consumption within Laos.

 

Source: Vientiane Times