Our Asia office

LuxDev’s Asia office opened in 2016 in Vientiane, Laos, to respond to the shifting strategic priorities of Luxembourg Development Cooperation in Southeast Asia. In particular, the relocation of the regional office reflects the impending increase of LuxDev operations, including the launch of several new programmes in Laos and the commencement of activities in neighboring Myanmar. The Asia office in Vientiane offers LuxDev a central location to manage, monitor, and support Luxembourg's development efforts in Laos and the two neighboring countries – Myanmar and Vietnam. The regional office operates in close coordination with the Luxembourg Embassy, which is located in the same compound.

In Laos, at the dawn of the fifth Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP) between Laos and Luxembourg, LuxDev is currently operating in the sectors of health, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), local development as well as the rule of law and governance. LuxDev implements the Health Sector Support Programme in cooperation with the Ministry of Health. In terms of TVET, LuxDev is the implementing agency for the joint Luxembourg-Swiss initiative in support of skills development in the tourism sector. Local development is supported by LuxDev under the village-level implementation modality successfully developed under ICP IV in cooperation with Lao authorities. In regards to capacity development, LuxDev is currently supporting :  

• the Division of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Planning and Investment with the implementation of a project aiming at strengthening the efficiency of the management of official development assistance (ODA); as well as  
• the Ministry of Justice and the Faculties of Law of Vientiane and Champasak through a support project in the implementation of the rule of law and governance in Laos.

The various programmes and projects collectively aim to achieve sustainable structural change by offering technical assistance to Lao authorities in implementing institutional reforms and complementary infrastructure and service development activities at the national, provincial, district, and village levels.

The main objective of ICP V, endowed with an envelope of 95 million EUR, is to contribute to poverty reduction in Lao PDR as well as to support the efforts of the Laotian government in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on assisting the most vulnerable groups and population in poor and remote areas. Bilateral cooperation constitutes the primary implementation modality of the ICP V, entailing a significant role for LuxDev, which implements the majority of Luxembourg’s bilateral development assistance.

The last development assistance activities in Vietnam continue to follow the framework of the ICP 2011-2015 between Luxembourg and Vietnam since development cooperation between Luxembourg and Vietnam no longer falls within the framework of an active ICP as the latter has demonstrated significant progress over preceding decades. As such, LuxDev maintains a branch office in Hanoi to manage its last ongoing interventions and support the transition from supporting poverty alleviation to economic development via assistance towards the banking and finance sector. In addition, LuxDev developed several innovative projects that diversify LuxDev’s areas of operation and approaches in Vietnam and beyond. For example, in view of Vietnam’s efforts to become more resilient in the face of climate change, the Luxembourg Ministry for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure supports two interventions via the Climate and Energy Fund. The first concentrates on climate change adaptation and the second seeks to enhance mitigation efforts in public/street lighting.

Since the initiation of operations in Myanmar in 2014, LuxDev has implemented a project in tourism and vocational training, and a local development project drawing from experiences and expertise gained in Laos and Vietnam. Unfortunately, the country has been facing a major political and institutional crisis since February 1st 2021, which has forced LuxDev to cease its operations and hampered the expansion of activities in Myanmar.

The Asia office is instrumental in facilitating knowledge management throughout all concerned sectors regarding best practices, and provides support in monitoring, technical backstopping, capacity development, cross-cutting issues.

For more specific information on activities implemented by LuxDev in the region, please consult the relevant pages dedicated to the programmes and projects managed by the Asia office.