Officials gain deeper insight into hydropower issues
Officials gain deeper insight into hydropower issues
Staff from various government agencies and Electricite du Laos (EDL) are joining reporters from print and electronic media for a workshop on public participation and dialogue in hydropower development.
The session aims to enhance their skills and capabilities in dealing with public involvement, collaboration and conflict transformation in relation to hydropower projects and developments.
The four-day seminar and workshop began yesterday in Vientiane, with the support of the US Army Corps of Engineers.
The objective is to practice interest-based communication and negotiation skills, and consider the interests, perspectives and responsibilities of hydropower financers, developers, and government ministries.
In addition, it seeks to assess the impacts of perspectives on information conveyed, involvement with the public, enhance media skills in reporting, verifying sources and how to use data, and identify opportunities to build the public relations capabilities of various agencies.
Besides this, the workshop aims to build shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities to increase cooperation between representatives of the media and the agencies, apply concepts to the local context, and gain insights from international case studies.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Director General of the Energy Policy and Planning Department of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Mr Khamso Kouphokham, said the Lao government is committed to developing all of the country's hydropower potential, as rapidly and responsibly as possible, while meeting all sustainability criteria with respect to technical, economic, environmental and social aspects.
Currently we have an installed capacity of 6,000MW. By 2020, we expect to reach an installed capacity of 10,000MW. And between 2020 and 2030 we want to add another 10,000MW, the equivalent of 1,000MW a year, Mr Khamso said.
These are ambitious goals. We undertake them knowing that this is the best and brightest hope for our people to emerge from poverty, he added.
Mr Khamso noted that with the high rate of hydropower development, the government is also aware of potential conflicts that may arise. Therefore, public involvement and stakeholder engagement is one of the key important aspects they are focusing on.
As we recall, in the first phase of the workshop held in February this year we learnt about the strategies and best practices for public involvement including the integration of technical components, he said.
During this four-day workshop, we hope we can learn and understand more about the tools and resolution techniques to assess potential conflicts and to address conflicts, Mr Khamso added.
