Introduction
In South-East Asia, Luxembourg has continued its financing of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in order to support, among other things, the production of an environmental adaptation strategy for the countries bordering the Mekong basin. Another sub-regional project that Luxembourg has continued to implement in 2020, in cooperation with Switzerland and Germany, was the Mekong Region Land Governance - Phase II project, with the aim of good land management in the Mekong region.
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The protocol for the triangular project designed to build capacity and raise awareness in the finance sector, involving Laos, Vietnam and Luxembourg, was signed in 2020 by the two governments, but the official launch had to be postponed to early 2021 because of the COVID-19 health crisis. However, preparatory work has progressed well, with the appointment of a national project coordinator, induction training sessions and the drafting of a work plan and an annual budget.
The International Labour Office (ILO) has also continued to implement a project in three countries in the region (Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar) relating to the cornerstones of social protection. The project aims to expand social security systems in the region, with the goal of achieving universal health coverage in these three countries. In 2020, the regional association Connect delivered its first results, including the setting up of an advanced university curriculum in Thailand and knowledge transfer between the countries in the region. In addition, the ILO has focused more on reaching marginalised and remote groups, as well as women’s unions. In 2020 the project received a six-month extension with no additional costs until 31 October 2021.
Since 2015, Luxembourg has been supporting the partnership for universal health coverage (UHC) by 2025, in order to promote UHC by encouraging political dialogue on the strategic planning and governance of health systems. This global programme is implemented by the WHO and provides technical support for the implementation of a national strategy to reform the health sector in Laos (EU-Luxembourg-Ireland-WHO Universal Health Coverage Partnership). Together with the EU, Luxembourg is one of the two founders of this universal programme.
In South-East Asia, Luxembourg has also continued its support for the promotion of inclusive finance. Thus, the Luxembourgish NGO ADA is supporting professional microfinance associations in Laos (LMFA), Cambodia (CMFA) and Myanmar (MMFA). The NGO is also participating in transforming informal village banks into formal microfinance institutions as part of the bilateral programme implemented by LuxDev in Laos. In addition, through the mechanism for responsible inclusive finance (RIFF-SEA), the Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) runs training courses in social performance management in various countries in South-East Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam) and co-finances projects enabling microfinance institutions (MFIs) to improve their social performance. Finally, since 2020 the ATTF/House of Training (HoT) has been offering training in finance to finance sector professionals in Laos.