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Rural development to get larger slice of govt budget
The government will spend more on rural development and poverty reduction programmes next fiscal year, according to Minister of Planning and Investment Mr Somdy Duangdy.
The minister made the announcement while explaining policy to planning and investment officials in central and southern provinces last week as they draft new provincial socio-economic development plans for 2012-2013.
The provincial plans will be merged with the national development plan before the government sends it to the National Assembly for approval in June.
According to a media release from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Mr Somdy wants provincial officials to focus on rural development, poverty reduction and development projects to ensure Laos achieves the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
He said the decision of the government to allocate more funding for rural development and poverty reduction projects is in line with the goals of the 9th Party Congress and the 7th Five-Year National Socio-economic Development Plan, which runs from 2011 to 2015.
During his week-long trip to the central and southern provinces, Mr Somdy discussed the implementation of the current provincial socio-economic development plans over the first half of this year.
He also visited development projects, including the Xenamnoy and Xepian irrigation projects and observed the progress of construction of Road No. 18A. The road is expected to boost investment, trade and tourism in the provinces.
Mr Somdy advised development planners to base their budgets on government funding availability rather than demand, making it easier for them to implement development projects.
He also urged provincial officials to ensure effective coordination between the planning and investment department and other government agencies, which is important to ensuring projects run smoothly. He said provincial planning and investment departments should work harder to increase political awareness among officials and actively enforce the laws.
He encouraged provincial officials to focus on investment promotion to create jobs for people in the provinces.
Mr Somdy also visited several privately-run investment projects, including the Dao Heuang coffee processing plant in Champassak province, a coal-powered mining project in Xekong province, the Mitr Lao Sugar factory in Savannakhet province, and the Elephant brand cement factory in Saravan province.
vientiane times
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