Japanese support sees project success in Laos

Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Alounkeo Kittikhoun remarked on the success of the projects at a meeting in Vientiane on Thursday to review the implementation of the Japan-Asean Integration Fund.
The JAIF was established on March 27, 2006, with Japan pledging to contribute 7.5 billion yen to support Asean countries, for the realisation of the Asean Community and efforts for internal integration.
“Since the establishment of the JAIF in 2006, the fund has contributed significantly to Asean, supporting more than 30 projects that have been carried out successfully in Laos, including the programme to support Laos’ Asean chairmanship in 2016,” Alounkeo said.
Alounkeo, who is also Asean Senior Officials Meeting head for Laos, thanked the JAIF as well as the government and people of Japan for the support and assistance. He said he hoped that more assistance would be provided to Asean as well as to Laos in the future to continue to contribute to building of the Asean Community.
The JAIF is expected to strengthen Asean-Japan relations by implementing various projects such as the stockpile of half a million courses of Tamiflu in the area of avian influenza, and projects in the areas of counter-terrorism, economic integration, youth exchanges, and others.
As a tailor-made outreach activity to increase awareness and partnership among senior government officials, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders on the achievements of JAIF-supported projects, the First JAIF Caravan was held last September in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
The Second JAIF Caravan, which continued yesterday in Vientiane, aims to explore and create working relationships between relevant ministries and JAIF public-sector partners via a demonstration of the success and effectiveness of JAIF-supported projects.
The meeting also aimed to disseminate knowledge of JAIF application, implementation and completion procedures and methodology among proponents and implementing agencies, to derive maximum possible benefits from JAIF-supported projects and aid the integration efforts of the Asean Community.
Speaking at the meeting, Japan’s ambassador to Asean, Koichi Aiboshi, commemorating the cordial friendship between the two nations, reaffirmed his country’s continued support for the Asean chairmanship of Laos, focusing on eight priority areas such as narrowing the development gap, trade facilitation, enhancing connectivity and strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises.
He said Japan looked forward to receiving applications for the JAIF in these areas in order to help materialise the Laotian chairmanship’s priorities.
The event was co-organised by the Laotian Foreign Affairs Ministry and the JAIF Management Team of the Asean Secretariat.