The European Union Delegation to Laos hosted an official reception to mark the 66th Anniversary of the Schuman Declaration or Europe Day on May 9th on the rooftop of the Europe House in Vientiane Capital.

The event was attended by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mrs Khemmani Pholsena, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Sengphet Houngboungnuang representing the Government of Laos and was joined Mr Michel Goffin EU Chargé d'Affaires and HE Francisco Fontan, Ambassador of the EU to ASEAN as well as European diplomats, diplomatic corps, government officials and representatives of international organizations to celebrate the night.

EU-Laos cooperation dates back to the 1970s. It is currently based on the EU-Lao PDR Cooperation Agreement from 1997. The EU Delegation in Vientiane Capital was opened in 2003. Since then the EU has long enjoyed a close relationship with Laos.

The EU-Laos relation covers a multitude of areas and also includes political dialogue, development cooperation and trade as well as regular dialogue on human rights and governance. Collaboration also takes place on regional and international stages through fora such as ASEAN and ASEM.

European development partners, the EU and its member states together were one of the first providers of development assistance in Laos, with more than half a billion EUR (LAK 4.5 trillion) to be given over the period of 2016-2020.

The funding provided by the EU to the Lao PDR through bilateral cooperation over the period 2014-2020 witnessed a substantial increase in funding with a total amount of 207 million EUR.

The allocation for this 2014-2015 is EUR 45 million and focuses on the following key sectors: Education (15 million EUR or 33.3%), Sustainable Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security including the UXO sector (24 million EUR or 53.3%), Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights (12.2 million EUR or 12.2%) and Technical Support (0.5 million EUR or 1%).

The EU assistance for the second phase 2016-2020 will be aligned with the government’s new development plan (8th NSEDP) and will align with member states in a full-fledged joint programming mode.

In addition to the EU’s bilateral assistance, Laos continues to benefit from many EU specific thematic programmes in the fields of rural development, health, food and nutrition security, resilience to climate change, and governance and human rights with total assistance of almost of EUR 20 million. Laos is also eligible under regional programmes, notably those implemented through ASEAN and the Mekong River Commission.

The EU is a unique economic and political partnership among 28 European countries that together cover much of the continent. The EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. The first step was to foster economic cooperation to avoid conflict. It covers an area of 4,324,782 km2, with an estimated population of over 508 million. The Gross Domestic Product per capital in the European Union was last recorded in 2014 at EUR 27,500.

Source:
courtesy of KPL NEWS AGENCY

by KPL

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