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Outline of the Project

Project Name

The Capacity Development Project for Improvement of Management Ability of Water Supply Authorities

Country

Lao people's Democratic Republic (hereinafter referred to as "Lao PDR")

Date R/D signed

June 27, 2012

Term of Cooperation

From August 24, 2012 to August 23, 2017

Related Organization
Executing Organization:

Department of Housing and Urban Planning (DHUP) / Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) of Lao PDR

Implementing Organization

Water Supply Regulation Office (WASRO) / MPWT; Water Supply Division (WSD) / DHUP; Vientiane Capital Water Supply State Enterprise (NPNL), Luang Prabang Provincial Water Supply State Enterprise (PNP-LP) and Khammouane Provincial Water Supply State Enterprise (PNP-KM) as the pilot water supply state enterprises.

1. Background of the Project

- According to the Government of Lao PDR 1999 Prime Minister Decision No.37 / PM on Management and Development of Water Supply and Wastewater Sector, the sector target is to provide 24-hour access to safe water for the 80% of urban population by 2020.

To achieve the target, development partners have supported MPWT and Water Supply State Enterprises (WSSEs) to supply sufficient, reliable and safe water to urban people with financing the construction of water supply facilities and strengthening the capacity of the related personnel. JICA also conducted grant aid projects in Vientiane Capital and Savannakhet, and a technical cooperation project with MPWT from 2003-2006 to improve basic skills of increasing engineers with increasing number of water supply bodies. The technical cooperation project established a base for training system which can be applied for all engineers. Following up the project, a JICA Partnership Program was carried out from 2006-2008 and a long-term expert was dispatched to Lao PDR in 2009. As a result of this cooperation, Lao PDR continues to organize training programs to provide the fundamental skills to the engineers by themselves.

As an issue to be solved, it is a serious situation for the sustainable water supply that most of WSSEs hardly realize the full cost recovery management. To improve the above situation, GOL requested the technical cooperation that aims to strengthen the planning and management ability of nationwide water supply authorities to the Government of Japan.

2. Objective of the Project

This project is to contribute to improve the management of nationwide water supply authorities with mid-term and long-term view through strengthening planning, implementation and monitoring ability of Government and WSSEs.

3. Target Area of the Project

Vientiane Capital, Provinces of Luang Prabang and Khammouane

4. Framework of Cooperation

This project is conducted based on R/D and Minutes of Meeting (M/M) signed on June 27, 2012 as shown below:

(1) Outcomes

- Overall Goal

The system for sustainable and stable development of the water supply sector in Lao PDR is strengthened

- Project Purpose

The System of strengthening the capacity for management of the water supply state enterprises (WSSEs) with mid-term and long-term views is established in Lao PDR

(2) Outputs

Output1: Data necessary for long-term, mid-term and short-term corporate planning at each pilot WSSE is available on an ongoing basis

Output2: The pilot WSSEs are managed based on long-term, mid-term, and short-term Corporate Plans (CPs) [1] through Plan-Do-Check-Action(PDCA) cycles

Output3: Monitoring of the Corporate Plan, including Performance Indicators (PIs), is strengthened

Output4: Technical guidelines on corporate planning is developed, utilizing the results of Output 1 to 3

Output5: A mechanism to disseminate techniques and knowledge relevant to the new technical guidelines to other WSSEs and private enterprises is developed, utilizing the results of Output 1 to 4

(3) Activities

<For Output 1>

1-1 Review the availability and current management of data necessary for corporate planning at each pilot WSSE

1-2 Develop an improvement plan for data management with a check list, including the way to adapt "Asset Management" approach of Japanese water supply sector to local situation at each pilot WSSE

1-3 Implement the improvement plan at each pilot WSSE

1-4 Develop a data management manual for corporate planning in Lao and English for approval by DG/DHUP

<For Output 2>

2-1 Review the existing management plans, planning process and the current management status at each pilot WSSE

2-2 Develop an improvement plan for business management, including outlines of 10-year, 5-year, and 3-year CPs at each pilot WSSE.

2-3 Forecast long-term demand for water supply and replacement / renovation of water supply facilities [2], as well as long-term financial balance (i.e. revenue and expenditure), utilizing the data obtained through Output 1, at each pilot WSSE

2-4 Develop a 10-year CP (up to 2020) at each pilot WSSE for approval by its Board of Directors

2-5 Develop a 5-year CP (up to 2015 and / or 2016-2020) at each pilot WSSE for approval by its Board of Directors

2-6 Develop a 3-year rolling CP, and then revise it annually at each pilot WSSE for approval by its Board of Directors

2-7 Implement the annual action plan of the 3-year rolling CP at each pilot WSSE

2-8 Review and revise the 10-year CP as appropriate at each pilot WSSE for approval by its Board of Directors

2-9 Develop a corporate planning manual, with individual manuals for some specific areas, in Lao and English for approval by DG/DHUP

<For Output 3>

Provincial level

3-1 Review the internal monitoring system [3] of the existing management plans and PIs at each pilot WSSE

3-2 Develop an internal monitoring system for CP, including PIs, based on the review at each pilot WSSE

3-3 Conduct monitoring of CP, including PIs, based on the system developed above at each pilot WSSE, the results of which would be fed back to data management under Output 1 and corporate planning under Output 2

3-4 Improve the internal monitoring system for CP, including PIs, at each pilot WSSE as appropriate

National level

3-5 Review the monitoring system of PIs at WASRO in the context of CP

3-6 Develop a monitoring system for CP, including PIs

3-7 Conduct monitoring of CPs, including PIs, of the pilot WSSEs

3-8 Improve the monitoring system for CP, including PIs, based on the results of Activity 3-7 for application to all WSSEs

3-9 Review the Guidelines on Service Performance Targets for Water Supply and Regulatory Monitoring of Service Level (2010)

3-10 Develop a draft of revised Guidelines for review and approval by the Water Supply Regulation Committee

<For Output 4>

4-1 Establish a Guidelines Committee [4]

4-2 Develop a draft outline of the Guidelines for finalization by the Committee

4-3 Develop a draft Guidelines, reflecting the results of Output 1 to 3, for the comments by the Committee

4-4 Modify the draft Guidelines based on the above comments for approval by the Committee

4-5 Submit the approved draft to the Minister of Public Works and Transport for endorsement

4-6 Publish the Guidelines in Lao and English

<For Output 5>

5-1 Identify the core resource persons at each pilot WSSE for future dissemination of the transferred knowledge / techniques within their respective WSSEs.

5-2 Provide on-the-job training to the core resource persons through Output 1 to 3

5-3 Provide Trainer’s Training to the core resource persons

5-4 Organize three regional introductory seminars on long-term, mid-term, and short-term corporate planning, one each at a pilot WSSE

5-5 Review the existing training program at the Training Center of NPNL in light of the new Technical Guidelines

5-6 Modify the existing course(s) and / or develop new course(s) based on the review at the Training Center

5-7 Implement the modified and / or new training course(s) at each pilot WSSE

5-8 Improve the above training course(s) based on the feedbacks from the participants

5-9 Develop a dissemination plan for corporate planning for DHUP based on the results of the Project for approval by DG/DHUP

(4) Inputs

Lao Side

  1. Project personnel
  2. Land, buildings, facilities necessary for the implementation of the Project, including office spaces for Japanese Expert team and a meeting room at the pilot WSSEs and MPWT
  3. Running expenses

Japanese Side

  1. Japanese Expert

    (1) Long-term Experts in the following fields: Chief Advisor, Project Coordinator / Monitoring Management / Training Management

    (2) Short-term Experts in the following fields: Finance, Facility Management, HRD, and others (if necessary)

  2. Equipment
  3. Training of the Lao personnel concerned with the Project in Japan in the field of Water Supply Utility Management in Japan and other fields related to water supply utility management

Note

  • [1] Long-term Corporate Plan (CP) is defined as"10-year strategic plan with PI targets, which corresponds with the cycle of National / Provincial 5-year Plan (i.e. 2011-2020, 2021-2030・・・). Mid-term CP is defined as"5-year plan with action plan, which is consistent with national / provincial 5-year Plan and corresponds with its cycle (2011-15, 2016-2020,・・・). Short-term CP is defined as "3-year rolling plan delineated by the Prime Minister’s Decision 37, with the detailed annual action plan for the first year. Management areas covered by CP would include finance, facility management, operation and maintenance, human resource development, non-revenue water management, risk management, customer services, public relations, etc. depending on the needs / priorities of WSSEs
  • [2] Water supply facilities are defined as "the facilities from intake to customer water meter".
  • [3] Monitoring system would consist of (i) monitoring item, (ii) methods, timing frequency, and responsible person(s) of data collection, compilation & analysis, reporting, decision making, and feedback for each item). Internal monitoring at a pilot WSSE includes monitoring by the respective Board of Directors.
  • [4] Guidelines Committee consists of the Deputy Director General of DHUP (chair), representatives of DHUP, including those in charge of the projects assisting corporate planning, WASRO, and JICA Expert Team
  • [5] Project Management Team consists of Project Director, Deputy Project Directors, Project Managers, Pilot Project Managers, and long-term Japanese Experts
  • [6] Pilot Project Management Team at each pilot WSSE consists of Pilot Project Manager, Deputy Pilot Project Managers, staff in charge (SIC), and long-term Japanese Experts. A representative of the respective DPWT as well as Short-term Experts in Laos is invited for information sharing and exchange of views.
  • [7] Participants of Inter-pilot WSSE coordination meetings from each pilot WSSE would be decided by the respective Pilot Project Manager, depending on the agenda of the meetings, in consultation with long-term Japanese Experts. Each pilot WSSE takes turns in providing a meeting place: a meeting is combined with a study tour within the hosting WSSE.

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