Responsible Large –Scale Agricultural Investment Regional Workshop 15th November 2017, Lao Plaza Hotel, Vientiane

1. Opening Remarks
Mr. Fongsamouth Khamvanvongsa
Deputy Chief Cabinet of the MPI
Responsible Large –Scale Agricultural Investment Regional Workshop
15th
November 2017, Lao Plaza Hotel, Vientiane
Excellencies,
Distinguished Participants,
Honored Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is my great pleasure and honour to join the opening session of this important
workshop. On behalf of the Ministry of Planning and Investment; I would like to
extend a very warm welcome to representatives of other governments, of private
sector, of researchers and academia, of Civil Society organisations, farmers
organisations to the Responsible Large – Scale Agricultural Investment Regional
Workshop in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Lao PDR is agricultural backbone economy country, which agriculture sector
contributes 17,254% to GDP since recent years. Agriculture sector play important
role to assure the food security which is assured the stabled food supply in the
country as well as the main sources of commercial commodities for income
generation of Lao farmers nationwide. Government has encouraged investment in
agro industry for large scale agribusiness investments, especially in rubber, coffee,
other tree plantation, by granting economic land concessions of medium and large
size (up to 10.000 ha). However, this has created many problems as most farmers
land in the uplands were not registered and had no titles, and therefore they were at
risk losing their lands and livelihood to the investors. Some investors were mostly
looking for short term profit and did not really develop their concessions. The level of
development achieved is not always satisfactory, and also employment is not created
as was expected. As a result, the government decided on a ban on new concession in
2012, and started a monitoring program to evaluate the results and take action to
solve the problems, (with support from CDE and GIZ), and also to take measures
when the concessionaire was not respecting its contract.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
MPI have since taken steps to encourage more responsible agricultural investment
with reviews of laws and regulations. We have been working on different initiatives
with private sector, international organisations and CSOs, and most specifically using
a multi-stakeholder platform to discuss together what would be the principles and
best practices to be promoted for responsible agri-investment, as supported by our
workshop co-organisers, MRLG.

2. IPD staff participated in various field visits through a working group on responsible
investments, one such visit was made to Southern Laos, where experience of
engagement of two multinational investors in the community was explored, resulting
in agreed recommendations and guidelines on the basis of these visits.
IPD is now implementing a specific project to develop a proper regulation for banana
related investment in northern Laos, where we have observed severe environmental
and public health issues. The project will analyse the benefits and costs of land-lease
arrangements based on the example of banana plantation investments.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This analysis is the basis for the development of general guidelines, currently in draft
form, for responsible investment in land through large-scale land leases. The
guidelines will assist villagers, investors and the government to arrange for beneficial
and sustainable land-based investments. You will hear more about this project if you
join session 1 this afternoon.
In this workshop, we want to discuss “what are the perspectives for developing
Responsible Agricultural Investment, not only for large-scale land-based investments,
but also with other forms of agreements between Private Sector and farmers
communities, such as contract farming, land leases, agreements between cooperatives
and private sector.
The government has a responsibility to regulate investments to make sure that they
benefit the country in general, but also all citizens, and in particular the rural
communities and the poorest segments of population. The Private Sector also must
play its role by developing its Corporate Social Responsibility approach, and by
adopting voluntary guidelines. The financial institutions also should apply due
diligence in all investment they are financing especially when they entail large scale
land acquisition
Last, but not least, on behalf of Ministry of Planning and Investment, I would like to
express sincere thanks to the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, the
German and Luxembourg governments, who fund MRLG and partners, in
particularly Oxfam and IPSARD and other organizations to have your valued time for
joining the Responsible Large – Scale Agricultural Investment Regional Workshop.
Finally, I wish all participants with pleasure during your stay in Lao PDR. Also, wish
you all have a fruitful discussion and share experiences with distinguished guests
from neighbouring countries who are facing similar situations such as Cambodia and
Myanmar, as well as neighbours who are investing in the region such as Vietnam,
Thailand and China. On behalf of Ministry of Planning and Investment, I would like
to announce the official opening workshop since this onward.
Thank you!