Concessions and Leases in the Lao PDR

Foreword
The Lao PDR is rich in natural resources, and thus the governance of its land is the backbone of sustainable development,
economic growth and poverty eradication. Land and natural resources have attracted significant investment, both foreign
and domestic, over the last 10 years, and thus have contributed to generating substantial national revenue. The Lao PDR has
thus evolved into a supplier of raw agricultural commodities, tree crops, minerals as well as hydropower, mainly for its large
neighbouring economies, leading to a drastic increase of the demand on land.
Due to the lack of reliable or comprehensive data about investment in land, the Government of the Lao PDR (GoL) and the
National Assembly felt the need to gain a comprehensive overview of ongoing investment projects and to quantify the
extent of land concession and lease areas as the basis for future decision making and policy development. In response, the
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the Lao-German Land Management
and Registration Project (GIZ LMRP) has provided financial support and technical advice to the former National Land
Management Authority (NLMA) to collect data for a State Land Leases and Concessions Inventory. This information was
compiled in the State Land Lease and Concession Inventory database, out of which provincial reports have been produced.
The State Land Leases and Concessions Inventory represents a globally unique and extremely valuable database, especially
in the Lao PDR where commercial pressure on land has increased exponentially over the last decade. Until today, all
available insights are based on either aggregated official statistics (GoL reporting) or site specific case study information.
Hence, there has been no detailed, comprehensive set of information compiled on a national scale describing land
concessions and leases. As active as the debate on this topic has been, it has nonetheless suffered from this lack of a national
baseline of data.
A vast store of data has now been collected at the local level, and in a spatially explicit manner which allows for relating it to
other national level information (e.g. socioeconomic data). This represents the first insight into the contexts (e.g. in relation
to poverty, environment and infrastructure) land concessions and leases take place in. Against this backdrop, to make this
valuable data available and to generate added value on a national level, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
(SDC) supported the analysis upon which this “Concessions and Leases in the Lao PDR: Taking stock of Land Investments” is
based. Consolidation and analysis was carried out in a trilateral way, mainly between the Natural Resource and Environment
Information Centre (NREIC) of MoNRE and the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern,
with significant contributions from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
sche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Lao-German Devel
We expect the knowledge and insights provided in this publication to support the Government of Laos in better pursuing
evidence-based decision making and sustainable development. Its contents may also point to current and potential
negative aspects of land investment, as well as constructive strategies for avoiding or mitigating their effects. Similarly, we
expect that a range of national and international agencies active in the field of land management and governance will find
great value in this report as a reference and guide to constructive discourse on investment in land in the Lao PDR for the
years to come.
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Inte
Ruth Huber
Dr. Petra Mutlu
t Cooperation
Regional Director
SDC Programme for the Mekong Region
GIZ Country Director Laos
Preface - Foreword 7