Press Releases
Signing and Exchange of Notes concerning the provision of bridge repair materials and equipment to the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Grant aid “the Economic and Social Development Programme”)
On March 6, 2025, in Vientiane, the capital of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mr. KOIZUMI Tsutomu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and H.E. Mr. Phongsavanh SISOULATH, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, signed and exchanged notes for Economic and Social Development Programmes (grant provision of up to 1.707 billion yen).
This programme aims to materialize the cooperation to the Lao PDR for the rehabilitation of East-West Economic Corridor that Mr. ISHIBA Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan expressed at the Japan-Laos Summit Meeting on January 21.
- In Laos, a landlocked country, overland roads are particularly important infrastructure that support logistics. However, many bridges on National Road Route 9, which constitutes the East-West Economic Corridor in the Mekong region, and other trunk roads were constructed long time ago, and the possibility of falling bridges due to flooding effects and age-related deterioration is high. Therefore, repairing deteriorated portions of bridges is an urgent issue.
- Under this programme, Japan will provide the Lao government with bridge repair materials and equipment (Steel bridge girders, carbon fiber reinforcement materials, a bridge erection crane, etc.). This is expected to contribute to the economic and social development of Lao PDR by improving the safety of bridges over the country's economic corridors through social stabilization.
(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) with a population of approximately 7.63 million people and, its gross national income (GNI) per capita is US$2,120 (2023, World Bank).