(KPL) The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supported the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) to showcase Lao potentials on business opportunity in the agricultural sector to foreign investors at the Hand-in-Hand Initiative Investment Forum, organized in Rome, Italy, on 17 October 2022.

The Hand-in-Hand Initiative is one of the biggest programs and ambition designed to eradicate poverty (SDG 1), end hunger and malnutrition (SDG 2) and reduce inequalities (SDG 10). Designed by FAO, the Hand-in-Hand Initiative is an evidence-based, country-led, and country-owned initiative aims to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development. 

This initiative could address factors inhibiting the achievement of SDGs, especially for the Lao PDR, from the outset, through an innovative, comprehensive, and fully integrated approach in order to deliver holistic and effective development assistance and in a collaborative, accountable, pragmatic and flexible partnership framework.

The Hand-in-Hand Initiative is not a stand-alone program, but a country-level approach. As such, it responds to the call of the 2030 Agenda for market-oriented, partnership-based approaches to ending poverty, hunger and malnutrition while promoting sustainable use of natural resources, protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

In partnership with FAO, the Government of Lao PDR will utilize the Hand-in-Hand Initiative to establish a green and sustainable economic corridor in the northern parts of the country. This region has been suffering from persistent levels of poverty and malnutrition. At the same time, preliminary analysis suggest that this region also presents significant opportunities to use agriculture as a vehicle for a transformative and inclusive economic development.

In the event, Mr Thongphath Vongmany, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry highlighted that “The Lao PDR is graduating from being one of the Least Developed Countries, has transformed from being a land locked country to a Land Linked Country, and it is fast becoming a logistic hub for the entire Indo China Peninsula. With a functioning high-speed train-link between Laos and China, we are connected through a network of roads and railways with the entire region. The infrastructure provides us opportunity to connect to the markets worldwide”. “We have made a commitment to use the strengths of the country’s natural resource base for a sustainable agricultural- economic growth, which is highly suitable for a variety of agri-based development interventions.”, he added.

The Hand-in-Hand Initiative Investment Forum was held between 18 and 19 October 2022 in Rome, Italy, joined by leaders of 20 countries from four different continents. The crux of the Initiative's partnership-building effort is to provide a platform for national authorities to present impact investment opportunities to corporations, multilateral development banks and donors, with a focus on growth potential of the agriculture sector and national business opportunities. For countries, long-term finance in public investments is key for Hand-in-Hand's success. For multilateral development banks, their blended finance structures and risk-mitigating mechanisms can support private investors in the poorest, fragile countries, and help enhance their roles in participating countries.

KPL