ADB approves additional financing to improve water and sanitation in Lao PDR

The additional financing is comprised of a $23.14 million grant from the Asian Development Fund (ADF) and a $7.36 million grant focused on climate adaptation efforts from the ADF Disaster Risk Reduction Fund. T

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors has approved an additional financing of $30.5 million, in the form of a grant, to help the government improve water supply and sanitation in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR).

The additional financing will make it possible for the government to add six more towns, benefiting 100,000 urban residents, to an ongoing Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project, which has been supported by a $35 million loan approved by ADB in 2013. So far, the project has helped provincial water utilities—also called provincial nam papas—provide more effective and efficient water supply and sanitation services, which has benefited 110,000 urban residents from nine towns in the Lao PDR.

“Water supply and sanitation is a basic urban service, which contributes to economic growth, especially in the Lao PDR, where one-third of the country’s population resides in towns,” said ADB Urban Development Specialist for Water Supply and Sanitation Mr. Javier Coloma Brotons. “Built on the project’s improvements and achievements in the last five years, this additional financing will continue to strengthen provincial nam papas and expand residents’ access to climate- and disaster-resilient water supply and sanitation services.”

The project supports the government’s goal of supplying piped water to 90% of urban areas and sanitation to all urban areas by 2030. Apart from expanding the number of project areas and beneficiaries, the additional financing will also add 150 kilometers (km)—400 km in total—more of water supply distribution pipelines in the project towns.

The additional financing is comprised of a $23.14 million grant from the Asian Development Fund (ADF) and a $7.36 million grant focused on climate adaptation efforts from the ADF Disaster Risk Reduction Fund. The expanded project is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2023.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region. In 2017, ADB operations totaled $32.2 billion, including $11.9 billion in co-financing.