Small Airport Improvement Project in Lao PDR

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (24 December 2002) - ADB will provide a US$500,000 technical assistance (TA) grant to prepare a project to improve six small airports in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR).

The TA will come from ADB's Japan Special Fund, financed by the Government of Japan.

Feasibility studies will be conducted for airports in Bokeo, Houaphan, Oudomxai, Phongsaly, Sayaboury, and Xieng Khouang provinces in northern Lao PDR. A civil aviation master plan, prepared in 1993 to provide a framework for sustainable and effective development of the civil aviation sector, will also be updated.

Access to rural areas is difficult in many parts of Lao PDR. Two thirds of the land area is covered by forest and woodland, and half the country is inaccessible during the rainy season.

Landlocked, and with no railway system, Lao PDR depends heavily on road and air transport. Improving small airports in the northern region to international safety and security standards will be crucial to providing market access and better delivery of social services as well as promoting national, regional, and international tourism.

The following activities will be undertaken under the TA:

• Updating and upgrading the civil aviation master plan;
• Revising outline designs and cost estimates for improving airports;
• Formulating an economic and financial evaluation for each airport;
• Assessing the development impact on poverty; and
• Preparing social and environmental assessments and identifying mitigation measures, if any, especially for the poor.