Multilateral development assistance

The Human Development Report ranks countries based on the Human Development Index (HDI) which measures average achievement on three basic aspects of human development, life expectancy, education, and per capita income. Between 1990 and 2019, the Lao PDR’s HDI value increased from 0.405 to 0.613, an ...

Over the last 30 years, Vietnam’s HDI (Human Development Index) has grown by 46%, amongst the biggest jump in the world. A United Nations report titled “Human Development and the Anthropocene” released last week places Vietnam at 117th out of 189 nations in terms of overall development. In the 2019 report, ...

A four-year project on the prevention and elimination of violence against women was launched on Thursday, which was International Human Rights Day. The project aims to strengthen national capacity for the effective, systematic and accountable prevention of, and response to, violence against women in Laos. The Lao ...

A new World Bank report links declining student performances in reading and stagnation in maths and science scores to inequality and inefficiency of investment across Thai schools. School closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic may accelerate these trends, warns the report released on Wednesday (December 9). ...

Ministerial delegates from the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Council have now approved a list of strategic documents, charting a new course for it and strengthening its efforts to balance environmental protection and economic development in the Mekong Basin. The MRC Council represents the highest level of ...

The Ministry of Planning and Investment, in coordination with the World Bank, held a conference on November 26 to seek ideas and consultations from leaders of Mekong Delta localities, experts and scientists for the delta’s Integrated Regional Master Plan in 2021-2030 with a vision to 2050. The draft master plan ...

The borrowing is a part of an executive emergency decree empowering the Thailand’s Finance Ministry to seek loans up to one trillion baht ($32 Bln) to combat economic and social problems resulting from COVID-19 . Finance Minister Arkhom Termpitayapaisith and Hideaki Iwasaki, country director for the ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$484-million (624.52-billion-kyat) loan to construct a new expressway connecting Bago Region and Mon State, which lie along Japan’s planned East-West Economic Corridor, a grand infrastructure scheme for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). The ADB said the new GMS ...

Vietnam is set to receive tens of millions of dollars to help it keep a promise not to cut down trees, part of a controversial World Bank program that critics say does not produce its intended effect — carbon emission reductions. The Southeast Asian nation has ...

IFC’s pandemic response is focused on reaching the most vulnerable people in developing countries. Of the US$8 billion in IFC COVID-19 fast-track financing approved by the IFC Board in March 2020, US$4 billion has been committed to date, of which close to half is expected to benefit people ...