Ministry, Australia partner for investment monitoring
Ministry, Australia partner for investment monitoring
Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Australian Embassy in Vientiane on Tuesday launched a new partnership for monitoring public investment in Laos.
Delivered through the ministry's Department of International Cooperation and the Laos-Australia Development Learning Facility, the partnership will develop and use a new public investment monitoring system.
In his remarks at the launch, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dr Kikeo Chanthaboury highlighted the contribution of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the country and the government's plans on investment over the next five years.
He said bilateral cooperation contributed more than 60 percent of total development cooperation in the period from 2011 to 2015, while around 25 percent of total government investment was sourced from grants during this period.
The government plans to invest US$29 billion in implementation of the eighth five-year National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP), with 24-28 percent of the development fund being sourced from public investment, 55-57 percent from foreign direct investment, and 17-19 percent from sovereign bank credits.
The government expects ODA to make up 12 to 16 percent of the development fund over the next five years.
ODA makes an essential contribution to the development of the Lao PDR, Dr Kikeo said.
The deputy minister pointed out the lessons from implementation of the seventh NSEDP, which he said emphasised important factors such as fund mobilisation and utilisation with ownership, high responsibility, transparency and effectiveness in the context of regional and international integration.
Meanwhile, he noted the factors needed to implement the NSEDP over the next five years so the country could achieve least developed status graduation by 2020.
To track our performance during the implementation of the eighth NSEDP we need quality and timely monitoring information, he said.
Pertaining to the past five years, Dr Kikeo said monitoring and evaluation of domestic and foreign private investment projects was not done regularly or widely, while the government's focus, which was more on appraisal for project approval, resulted in significant losses as so many projects were not implemented in accordance with the timeframe, often being reserved and not implemented.
He also pointed to coordination and collaboration between sectors and different levels of government, which he said still remained a challenge and some legislation was not practical or had conflicting requirements.
According to the deputy minister, in the 2016-2020 period the ministry's Department of International Cooperation was committed to developing and using a simple tool for monitoring ODA and evaluating its effectiveness to ensure it is used to achieve its goals, and is sustainable.
Development of the public investment monitoring system has three targets for 2016-2017: an ODA monitoring system, new or revised regulations, and capacity building to strengthen MPI practice.
Speaking at the meeting, Australian Ambassador to Laos John Williams reflected on Australia's long term partnership with Laos and the productive relationship with MPI.
Knowing where ODA is being used, how it is being used and who is using it helps the government of Laos manage investment to deliver sustainable development in Laos, the ambassador said.
