Relief, Recovery and Resilience: Strengthening the Macro-Fiscal Framework and Financing for Sustainable Development

The Dialogue, a first of five, was held upon the request of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, on behalf of the Government of Lao PDR, and acted as part of the support of the UN in collaboration with various partners to identify the potential policy shifts needed for the coming 5-year period. The Multi-stakeholder Taskforce has worked over the past months to study the impact of COVID-19 to facilitate the recalibration of the 9th National Socio-economic Development Plan (NSEDP) and to inform the SDG localization in Lao PDR.

This Dialogue was co-chaired by H.E. Bounleua Sinxayvoravong, Vice Minister of Finance, and Ms. Sara Sekkenes, the UN Resident Coordinator, with participation by key stakeholders including Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, Bank of Laos, National Institute for Economic Research, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, Embassy of Japan as well as several UN agencies and development partner representatives.  

Participants exchanged on strategic policy options and measures that could be integrated into the development process of the 9th NSEDP to mobilize resources, ensure fiscal sustainability and support genuine prioritization and efficient resource disbursement.

This is the first of a series of thematic policy dialogues among multi-stakeholders to support a determination of the 9th NSEDP and the achievement of the SDGs. Forthcoming dialogues will cover themes on 1) Trade, Private Sector, Value Chains and Tourism; 2) Decent Work; 3) Human Capital; and 4) Green Growth, Resilience and Risk Management.