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signing ceremony

On October 10, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a grant agreement with the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic in Vientiane, to provide grant aid of up to 1.922 billion yen for the Project for the Expansion of Water Supply System in Luang Prabang City.

This project contributes to a safe and stable water supply through expansion of the water supply system in Luang Prabang city, which has world heritage status, in the northern part of Laos.

The city is one of the largest tourist cities in the country and the number of tourists has increased year by year. However, the existing water purification plant in the city is overloaded due to the lack of facilities. Besides, the leakage rate has increased to 27.2% (2017), due to aging of the existing water distribution pipe and water supply pipe. The water demand is to be increased in the future, therefore, it is urgent to meet the demand by expanding of the water supply system.

This project contributes to the sustainable development of the urban environment through achieving a stable water supply by resolving overload of the existing water treatment plant in Luang Prabang City and reducing the areas of frequent water leakage through renewal of the existing water distribution pipe and water supply pipe.

In addition to this project, JICA is carrying out “The Project for Improvement of the Management Capacity of the Water Supply Sector (MaWaSU 2)” (2018-2023), a technical cooperation, and “The Project for Improvement of Pipeline Management and Maintenance in the Water Supply State Enterprises of Lao PDR”(2018-2021), a grassroot technical cooperation, thereby providing comprehensive support for improving the water environment in Laos.

For the detailed design of the project, JICA has already signed a grant agreement to provide grant aid of up to 97 million yen in March 2019.

[Basic project information]

Country	Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Project title	The Project for the Expansion of Water Supply System in Luang Prabang City
Planned implementation period	50months, including the bidding period
Executing agency	Department of Public Works and Transport, Luang Prabang Province / Nam Papa Luang Prabang
Target region, facilities	Water purification plant and distribution facilities in Luang Prabang City
Specific project details (provisional)	(1) Facility Namkan water purification plant- update of intake water facilities:13,200 cubic meters/day, construction and update water treatment facilities:6,000 cubic meters/day, update clear water transmissions facilities:12,000 cubic meters/day, construction of drainage facilities, electrical facilities. Expansion of distribution pipes:approx.60 kilometers in length, hydrant 45 bases, service pipes:approx. 2,400 locations, expansion of clear water transmission pipes:approx.5 kilometers in length, construction of reservoirs and overhead tanks:1,500 cubic meters, construction of monitoring system. (2) Consulting services Detailed design work, bidding assistance, construction supervision, (as guidance in managing the facilities) advice about operative maintenance of water purification plant and water distribution management to staff of Nam Papa Luang Prabang.