Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Northern Area Rural Power Distribution Project

The Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) was one of the least developed countries in Southeast Asia. About 80% of its population lived in rural areas, which needed to be developed to improve the country's economy and raise living standards of the rural poor. At appraisal, the northern region was the poorest in the country - about 14% of villages had access to electricity. The government's power sector policy was to maintain and expand low-cost, reliable, and sustainable electricity, increase the national electrification ratio, and bring electricity to all by expanding and improving the main grid. The government thus expected by 2010 that 70% of households would have electricity. In line with this policy, the government requested the ADB to support the Northern Area Rural Power Distribution Project that would directly benefit poor households by reducing their cost of energy (electricity).

This report validates the completion report's assessment of the project which aims to improve the quality of electricity supply and to improve Electricite du Laos financial performance and operational efficiency. IED overall assessment: Successful