Opening Statement by H.E. Douangchit ... - GMS-EOC

Opening Statement by
H.E. Douangchit CHANGXAYVANG, Vice Governor of Xiengkhouang Province
in the occasion of
the 10 th WGA Annual Meeting and the 19 th WGE Annual Meeting of
the GMS Economic Cooperation Program
2-4 April 2013, at Phoukham Hotel, Xiengkhouang Province, Lao PDR
Mr. Chong Chi Nai, Country Director, Lao PDR Resident Mission, ADB
Mr. Javed Mir, Director of Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture Division, ADB
Distinguished GMS Delegates
Development Partner Organizations and Private Sector Partners
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, on behalf of the government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the people of
Xiengkhouang, may I extend our warmest welcome to the distinguished participants of the 10 th Annual
Meeting of the Working Group on Agriculture (WGA) and the 19 th Annual Meeting of the Working Group on
Environment (WGE) of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation Program. The beauty of
the Xiengkhouang Province is best captured by the following saying:“The Victory Good Mountain, the
Famous Plain of jars, Listen to Phouan Folk Song, Clear as Yuan River, Valiant Gardener, Valorous
Land, Yardstick Plateau, the Heroic Xiengkhouang”. We are delighted and honored that Xiengkhouang
has been selected to host this important event.
Let me take this opportunity to express our sincere congratulations to the organizing committee from the
central government and the Xiengkhouang Provincial Authority. This meeting is an outcome of hard work and
successful coordination between the two agencies with a wide range of authorities both within Lao PDR and
outside the country.
May I also express our sincere appreciation to the Asian Development Bank’ Environment Operations Center
(EOC) and Core Agricultural Support Program (CASP) Secretariat for their valuable support in preparation for
this meeting.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This meeting marks an important opportunity for an exchange of ideas and experience among key
stakeholders in the agriculture, natural resource and environment sectors in the GMS. Present in this meeting
are policy makers, managers and technical experts who have deep understanding on key opportunities and
challenges related to agriculture, environment, agro-manufacturing and the linkages between these sectors.
The knowledge and experience that you all bring to this meeting will inform the deliberation of key
development issues for the sectors, which include, among others, increasing value and safety of agricultural
products, greening agricultural production, and improving climate resilience of agriculture. I believe that the
lessons learned from various countries which you will share at this meeting will be an important input for
improving integrated planning in the agriculture and environment sectors. Such integration will ensure both
efficiency and sustainability for future development in the GMS.
Honored Guests,
Xiengkhouang is a beautiful Mountainous territory. The average height of our mountains is 1,100 meters with
a cold weather throughout the year. With the total area of 16,850 square kilometers, Xiengkhouang contains 8
districts, 56 village clusters, 517 villages, and 42,036 households. The population of the province is 260,534
people, which comprise 5 major ethnic groups. In terms of livelihood, 83% of the population is agriculturists
who practice farming, cropping, and animal husbandry. The province’s immediate and long term development
strategy focuses on animal husbandry. In 2012-2013, the overall economy of the Xiengkhouang Province is
based on animal husbandry, tourism, agro-manufacturing and industry. Xiengkhouang has achieved an

impressive economic growth rate of 9.35%. Agriculture is the biggest sector, making up 48.59% of the
province’s economy and growing at the rate of 4.7%. Reflecting its large agricultural sector, the Xiengkhouang
province is a major food producer within Lao PDR.
Xiengkhouang has also made significant progress on socio-economic development. The province has roads
which connect urban to rural areas. Education and public health networks have been expanded to all villages
in the province. One hundred percent of children and women can enter these facilities to receive services.
Population in 332 villages around the province, or equal to 70.54% of the total provincial population, has
access to electricity. Despite such significant progress, development challenges remain. 8.75% of all families
in the province are still poor, lacking of based infrastructures such as electricity, clean water, road and so on.
In addition, 131 villages are classified as poor, which accounts for 25.34% of all poor villages around the
country.
The Provincial Social-Economic Development Plan provides development direction for the Xiengkhouang
province from now to 2015. Under the plan, the province will continue to rapidly develop, with a goal to
achieve an average growth rate of more than 9% per year. Priority economic sectors include 1) modern
industry focusing on animal husbandry as the first priority; 2) tourism and services as the second priority; 3)
and agro-manufacturing industry and metal mining as the third priority. Considerations will be given to
identifying potentials in all economic sectors for development integration. Poverty eradication efforts will focus
on human development. Regional cooperation within the GMS and broader international cooperation will be
pursued to support socio-economic development of the province.
Honored Guests,
We know that both people and businesses can participate in, and share the benefits from, the integration of
agriculture development and environmental protection. To achieve the benefits, we need to promote ecofriendly
agriculture by transferring best practices and achievements from various successful projects in the
past to new projects. Economic, social, and environmental objectives of these projects must be balanced. In
developing the agriculture, natural resources, and environment sectors more broadly, we must also keep in
mind the ultimate objective of achieving both economic growth and millennium development goals, in order to
lead Lao PDR out of the least developed country status in 2020.
I hope that you will use this meeting as an opportunity to evaluate past achievements of both the Core
Agricultural Support Program (CASP) and Core Environment Program and Biodiversity Conservation
Corridors Initiative (CEP -BCI). The evaluation should inform the work plan of phase II of both programs.
Specifically, opportunities should be identified to improve and expand on the past achievements and create a
cooperation plan of the WGA and WGE in a sustainable and thorough manner.
On behalf of the Lao government and the provincial authority, I would like to use this auspicious occasion to
extend sincere thanks to our friendly neighbor countries, international organizations, social organizations,
financial institutes and internal and external experts for assistance and support for the agriculture and
environment sectors in Lao PDR. Your contribution is essential to Lao PDR’s effort to move away from the
least developed country status by 2020.
In closing, I wish all achievements of this meeting would contribute to the implementation of the Provincial
Socio-economic Development plan for Xiengkhouang. More broadly, I wish the outcome of this meeting would
also contribute to sustainable development of agriculture, natural resources and environment in Lao PDR.
Finally, on the occasion of the Lao New Year (water festival) which is coming soon, I wish everyone present
today good health, happiness and enjoyable stay in Xiengkhouang.
At this auspicious minute, I declare the 10 th WGA Annual Meeting and the 19 th WGE Annual Meeting of the
GMS Economic Cooperation Program officially opened.
Thank you.