The first National Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Responsible Agricultural Investments took place in Laos on the 10^th of November 2021. The dialogue convened stakeholders from the agriculture and investment sectors to discuss how to enhance the enabling environment for responsible investments in land in Lao PDR. The event was hosted jointly by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The event established a broad understanding of the status quo of the implementation of responsible investments in agriculture and forestry in Laos. It brought together government officials from various levels, domestic and foreign private sector actors, local community representatives, civil society organizations, development partners and international donors. In several interactive sessions the different stakeholders exchanged experiences and shared perspectives on the current issues and solutions and learned about good practices and tools already in place.

Thematic contributions from MPI and MAF, GIZ and FAO, the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Mekong Region Land Governance project, Mekong Timber Plantations, Helvetas Laos and the Centre for Development and Environment created a comprehensive overview and allowed for an in-depth analysis and reflection of the current situation and successful tools and approaches.

The dialogue further acted as a platform to acknowledge the differentiated roles of stakeholders in the sector, with the aim to identify ways forward to strengthen cooperation among them to improve implementation, address existing gaps and tackle major challenges.

Lessons learned from practical activities carried out in recent years were used as a basis for discussions. These include a learning program for local officials carried out in August-September 2021 and a workshop for civil society undertaken in October 2021. 

The National Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Responsible Agricultural Investment is planned to be the first of a series, with a sequel dialogue planned in 2022 to review progress and renew strategies. It is organised in the context of the “Promoting Responsible Governance of Investments in Land (RGIL)” project, which is part of the Lao-German Land Program implemented by GIZ and co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union, as well as the Lao component of FAO’s “Enhancing the enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems” funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany.

In compliance with the Covid-19 prevention measures, the dialogue took place as a small physical but mainly online event, with over 130 participants in total.

All presentations of the dialogue are available at https://laofab.org/folder/view/541.

Further information

Lao-German Land Program:
https://landportal.org/community/projects/responsible-land-policy-laos
https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/39918.html

FAO project:

http://www.fao.org/in-action/responsible-agricultural-investments/news/detail/zh/c/1402042/

MRLG:

www.mrlg.org

For More Information Please Contact
Ms. Nora Teufel (nora.teufel[at]giz.de)
Ms. Akiko Inoguchi (Akiko.Inoguchi[at]fao.org)

For Media Enquiries
Visakone Thammavong (visakone.thammavong[at]giz.de)

Steven Cleary (Steven.Cleary[at]fao.org)