Laos

During the rainy season many villages are practically cut off for months, and some are without any transport connections whatsoever. Poverty remains widespread, as the affected regions are barely able to harness their economic potential.

On behalf of the BMZ, KfW is supporting Laos in extending the network of roads and tracks as well as building bridges. People living there can now reach their markets, schools, health units and other facilities more quickly and safely all year round on the several hundred kilometres of roads that have been built. The new regional mobility increases income, contributes to decreasing levels of poverty and allows children and young people, including girls, to attend school.

Project information - Road construction  (PDF, 200 KB, non-accessible)

Project information - Village Forest Management Project  (PDF, 171 KB, non-accessible)

Project information - Support to Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT FC)  (PDF, 160 KB, non-accessible)

A further focal area of FC activity is helping to reduce deforestation in the country, thereby conserving biodiversity. Today, three fifths of Laos is still covered in forest, making it the most heavily forested country in Southeast Asia alongside Myanmar. By combating the illegal logging and timber trading, settling land disputes, and through villages in project areas committing to protect the forest in exchange for compensation payments, valuable CO2 sinks in the forests are protected, which in turn helps to mitigate climate change.

An economy cannot develop sustainably and on a large scale without a qualified workforce. In vocational training in particular, the training and teaching curriculum in Laos is still poorly aligned with the actual needs of companies. This is why KfW, on behalf of the BMZ, is helping to promote closer cooperation between vocational schools and business in Laos.

Another focus of FC activity is support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Support for the banking sector should improve MSMEs’ access to investment loans, thereby encouraging their economic expansion. This helps to eliminate a key investment bottleneck and thus contributes directly to job creation in rural areas too.

Project information - Vocational Education  (PDF, 106 KB, non-accessible)