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p. 16 of 46 BACK | NEXT Moving the Poverty Reduction Agenda Forward: Priorities and Outcomes Strategic Priorities Crosscutting Strategic Themes Regional Perspectives East and Central Asia Mekong Cambodia Lao People's Republic Myanmar Thailand Viet Nam The Pacific South Asia Southeast Asia

Annual Report 2003 : Moving the Poverty Reduction Agenda Forward: Priorities and Outcomes : Mekong

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Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Strategy and Policy Dialogue.
The main thrust of ADB’s current CSP for the Lao PDR is poverty reduction by broadening community participation and opportunities. The strategy focused on five operational priorities: rural development and market linkages, human resource development, sustainable environmental management, private sector development, and regional integration. Since the country is geographically located at the center of the region, ADB’s strategy aimed to explore options to maximize the benefits of cooperation. Interventions focused primarily on the poor northern provinces and along the east-west corridor in Savannahkhet Province. ADB further helped the Government prepare a development strategy for the northern region.

Policy dialogue focused on financial sector reform, private sector development, environmental management, and poverty monitoring. ADB assisted the Government to implement a policy framework for banking sector reform in close coordination with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. ADB encouraged the Government to enhance the business environment through regulatory and administrative reform, improvement of product quality standards, and facilitation of cross-border movement and trade. ADB also assisted with improvements in the regulatory framework and the institutional capacity in environment and social management. ADB supported the Government in the preparation of the National Poverty Reduction Program which was discussed at the Donor Roundtable Meeting in September 2003.

Loans and Technical Assistance.
Two loans totaling $46 million were approved to improve urban governance and infrastructure in small towns and to expand the electricity distribution network in the poor northern areas. Seven technical assistance projects totaling $3.3 million were also approved.

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