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Laos government eyes US$713m in aid this fiscal year
The Lao government hopes to receive official development assistance (ODA) of about 5,700 billion kip (US$713 million) this fiscal year.
According to the National Socio-Economic Development Plan for 2011-12, the Lao government requires total investment funding of 23,000 billion kip (US$2.9 billion) kip to secure its target of 8.3 percent GDP growth this fiscal year.
Of that total, 5,700 billion kip is expected to come from international development partners, 2,200 billion kip from the government, and the remainder from the private sector.
The government plans to use some grant financing to fund socio-cultural and education development projects aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and building a skilled labour force to meet demand from development projects.
Loans provided to the government will be spent on public infrastructure including roads, irrigation systems and economic-oriented development projects, according to the national development plan.
ODA has played an important role in the development of Laos in recent decades, with foreign aid accounting for more than 20 percent of total investment funding.
The major providers of aid to Laos are the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, United Nations, European Union, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, France, Germany and Sweden.
vientiane times
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