Press Releases
Signing and Exchange of Notes concerning the grant aid projects for Human Resource Development Scholarship and for the Regional Development through Acceleration of the Clearance of Unexploded Ordnance in the Southern Provinces (Phase2)
June 26, 2024
On June 26, 2024, in Vientiane, the capital of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mr. TSUGE Yoshifumi, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Mr. Phoxay KHAYKHAMPHITHOUNE, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, signed and exchanged notes for two grant aid projects up to 753 million yen in total.
- The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship
Although Laos faces complex development issues, the capacity and systems of the government agencies and ministries in charge of these issues are inadequate. This project will support up to 21 young government officials to study at Japanese graduate schools from 2025 to improve administrative capacity.
By supporting young government officials, etc., who are expected to play an active role in the core of the Lao Government, to obtain a degree (master's or doctoral) at a Japanese postgraduate school, this program will contribute to solving priority development issues in Laos, and strengthen mutual understanding and friendly relations between Japan and Laos, thereby strengthening bilateral relations through the establishment of human networks. - The Project for the Regional Development through Acceleration of the Clearance of Unexploded Ordnance in the Southern Provinces (Phase2)
The number of unexploded ordnance (UXO) dropped during the Vietnam War and buried throughout the Lao PDR is estimated to be as many as 80 million pieces. The presence of UXO continues to threaten the safety of people's lives and is an obstacle to the expansion of agricultural land and infrastructure development in the country.
This project mainly supports the cost of UXO clearance activities in three provinces in southern Laos (Sekong, Salavan and Champasak) following 2023, and is expected to accelerate clearance activities and reduce impediments to development in the target areas, thereby contributing to regional development and reducing the number of victims of UXO.
(Reference) Basic Data on the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
The country covers 240,000 square kilometers (about the same size as Japan's main island of Honshu) , a population of approximately 7.53 million people and a gross national income (GNI) per capita is US$2,310 (2022, World Bank).