Laos requires US$775 million in aid next fiscal year
Laos requires US$775 million in aid next fiscal year
Laos expects to mobilise Official Development Assistance (ODA) of about 6,200 billion kip (US$775) as the country increases its efforts to achieve the millennium development goals over the next few years.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment unveiled the fund mobilisation plan for the 2012/2013 fiscal year to a number of development partners including the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and foreign embassies to Laos.
The executive consultation meeting between Laos and its development partners took place at the Lao Plaza Hotel in Vientiane on Tuesday.
The meeting is a part of the preparation processes for Laos to host the roundtable meeting in November, where development partners typically make official commitments to provide financial and technical aid to Laos.
According to the fund mobilisation plan, Laos requires total investment funds of about 26,800 billion kip (US$3.3 billion) to secure GDP growth of at least eight percent next fiscal year.
The government believes that stable economic growth will create the conditions for Laos to free itself from the list of UN least developed nation status by 2020.
Of the total investment required, the government expects that public investment will represent around 9,150 billion kip (US$1.1 billion) of the total, with the rest to come from increased private investment and other sources.
Around 2,950 billion kip (US$368 million) of the public investment figure is expected to be sourced from the government budget while around 6,200 billion kip (US$775 million) will need to be sourced from development partners as ODA.
Meanwhile the government expects that private domestic and foreign investment will contribute funds of around 14,250 billion kip (US$1.8 billion) while bank credit is expected to contribute funds of around 3,400 billion kip (US$425 million) next fiscal year. According to planning and investment officials, the government hopes to source Official Development Assistance to fund the planned projects, aiming to enable the country to achieve the nine UN millennium development goals in 2015.
The nine millennium development goals are ending poverty and hunger, universal primary education, gender equality and empowerment of women, reduced child mortality, maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, environmental sustainability, development of global partnerships, and UXO clearance.
According to a report from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Laos may not achieve Millennium Development Goal No 1.
The implementation of government programmes to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal No. 1 on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is slow as the proportion of five year old children who are below normal weight still high.
Laos is required to reduce the proportion of children with abnormal weight to 22 percent by 2015. The proportion of children with abnormal weight was 37 percent in 2008.
MDG No 5 is another of the goals which the government may fail to achieve. According to the survey the rate of maternal mortality was still high, adding that in 2008, 339 mothers per 100,000 died during childbirth.
Laos is required to reduce the rate of maternal mortality to 260 per 100,000 births by 2015.
vientiane times
