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Lao PDR, Germany reinforce cooperation in the Land Sector

Additional funds and a reinforcement of the ongoing cooperation in the land sector in Laos have been stipulated with a new Implementation Agreement between the Department of International Cooperation (DIC) of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Lao-German Land Programme.

The agreement was signed by Director General DIC Sisomboun Ounavong, and Deputy Country Director GIZ Laos Barbara Schweiger, and reaffirms the quality and efficiency of programme activities with an extension until the end of 2023, as the German Government provided an additional EUR3.0 million topping-up funding.

The Lao-German Land Programme, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), supports the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) in the areas of Land Registration and Customary Tenure, Participatory Land Use Planning and Participatory Agricultural Land Management, and Investment Quality Promotion in the Lao PDR.

The Land Programme consists of three different projects: the Land Management and Decentralized Planning Project (LMDP), the Enhanced Land Tenure Security Project (ELTeS), which is also co-funded by the European Union (EU) with the focus on “Promoting Responsible Governance of Investments in Land” (RGIL), and the regional Mekong Region Land Governance Project (MRLG).

With the additional funding, the Land Programme’s total budget stands at approximately EUR20 million. Within the next two years, the Programme continues to aim at strengthening the capacities of government partners for sustainable land management and tenure security by further institutionalising tools and mechanisms for land use planning and land information systems in the country.

The established mechanisms are providing the basis for upcoming land management projects of other donors, as well as KfW. With this agreement and extended objectives, the programme also continues to support the implementation of the 9th National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP), relevant Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and remains a central partner in the EU Joint Programming.

Source: Lao News Agency

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