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2020
- 7 January
- By Sandrine Thinnes
- MYA/002
- Socio-economic development
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MYANMAR - Nearly 15,000 people in rural areas will have access to information and telecommunication technology
On Friday 13 December 2019, LuxDev, the bilateral development agency of the Government of Luxembourg (via Eastern Shan State Rural Development and Inclusion Project, MYA/002), and Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), a Myanmar government entity (as “Service Provider”), signed an agreement for the purchase, turnkey building, installation and future operation of three Telecom towers in the Township of Keng Tung.

The agreement, which lists required services in the form of basic data and voice communications, is part of a series of parallel interventions adopting a holistic approach towards rural development and inclusion in three designated target areas in Eastern Shan Stage. The area where the services will be delivered from mid-2020 onwards includes almost 15,000 beneficiaries and is situated to the south-west of Keng Tung city (Nam Khat, Nam Inn, Nar Paw, Ming Inn and Naung Taun – commonly referred to as the “5 Tracts”).

The counterpart agency assigned to the project is the Department of Rural Development (DRD) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation. The other ministries and/or organisations involved are the General Administration, Rural Roads, Agriculture, Livestock and Education departments.

The two objectives of the Eastern Shan State Rural Development and Inclusion Project - MYA/002 are to improve the means and resources for legal livelihood activities of the local communities and to promote interaction, interdependence, cooperation and capacity in the community's development of participatory governance.

Project MYA/002, now at the end of its second year, has a 5-year duration and a total budget of 10 million EUR from the government of Luxembourg (in addition to a range of alternative Myanmar contributions).

Since development prospers with cooperation and interdependence, first and foremost the initiative aims to involve and serve villagers in need of food, water, electricity, better productive/agricultural activities, mobility and communications. These necessities all require consistent cooperation and interdependence, which is to be gradually formalised in committees at Township, Tract, Village and Community levels.

The delivery of communications represents the promotion of innovation and will strengthen the information network, specifically in the 5 Tracts, and this will thus enable more people to appreciate common interests and the need to cooperate in change, to gain shared knowledge, and to learn by themselves.

The project sought a cost-sharing agreement with MPT for the provision of hardware and subsequent communications services, with the latter falling under the full responsibility of MPT. Earlier in 2019, MPT already built a tower and started operations; thereby reaching the 5 Tracts target area.

In consultation with the community, the project will support the provision of phones, radio and internet access for key persons. High priority actors and key beneficiaries are hence a few thousand learners in some 20 schools, between 40-50 teachers, approximately 100 village elders in literacy and information, an estimated 200 village committee members in different technical areas, some 500 leading female and male farmers, some 1500 following farmers (wetland, upland, livestock and post-harvest technologies), possibly some 1000 short-term workers (some with repeat assignments) on tracks and roads and about 100 Myanmar Government staff from six different sectors who will gain knowledge and skills from implementing their responsibilities in planning, execution, maintenance, monitoring and reporting.

Communications will be closely monitored so as to learn from the uptake and the developmental effects of this intervention in this area, compared with an unconnected “control area” in another Township or District of Eastern Shan State.
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2019
- 10 December
- By MYA/001 Project
- Asia Office MYA/001
- Education, vocationnal training and employment
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MYANMAR - The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism made a technical visit to Manila.
From 10-16 November 2019, a delegation from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MoHT), composed of the Director General U Maung Maung Kyaw, Deputy Director General U Aung Aye Han and nine senior leaders of different departments of MOHT, undertook a technical visit to the Republic of the Philippines with the support of the Human Resources Development in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector Project, MYA/001.

The aim of the technical visit was to provide an unique opportunity to MoHT senior leaders to observe, discuss and experience the work and progress achieved by the Department of Tourism (DOT) of the Philippines, the Civil Servant Commission (CSC) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), focusing mainly on the outstanding collaboration between the public and private sector, as well as the past civil service reform, aimed at institutionalizing meritocracy and excellence in human resource management.

During the technical visit, the delegation from MoHT also had the opportunity to visit private schools offering tourism/hospitality programs as well as their partner hotels. They were able to visit all the different facilities to gain a better understanding of the importance of Public-Private Partnerships.

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- 10 December
- By MYA/001 Project
- Asia Office MYA/001
- Education, vocationnal training and employment
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MYANMAR - More than 5,200 young people trained and graduated in tourism and hospitality
The Fourth Steering Committee Meeting of the Project "Human Resources Development in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector (MAY/001)" took place at the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MoHT) in Naypyitaw on 5 November 2019. A specific focus was put on ensuring sustainable outcomes and successful handover to local stakeholders and government counterparts by the end of the project.

The Project Steering Committee endorsed the work of the project over the past 12 months, with Monitoring & Evaluation data showing that most of the 21 performance indicator targets were reached or on track to be achieved by the end of the project. Results over the four years of the project demonstrate that 50% of all MoHT personnel in headquarters and regions have received training with support by the project, with over 70% improving their capacity and skills. More than 1,000 young people completed a 3-9 month certificate course in hospitality, travel or tourism in government training schools supported by the project. A further 1,700 young people completed entry-level front-line training courses in hospitality and almost 2,500 supervisors and managers were trained across all 14 states and regions.

From 2015 up to the end of 2019, almost 6.4 million EUR has either been committed or disbursed and the remaining amount of the 8.5 million EUR has been allocated to the final phase of project activities, which includes a revision of the Myanmar Tourism Master Plan. Twenty civil servants from MoHT will be assigned to the Centre for Tourism Development and trained and coached by project trainers in order to take over the full operations, administration, finance and teaching in the renovated Ministry building in downtown Yangon.

Approval for an 18-month extension until mid-2021 was agreed by all relevant ministries and the Attorney General’s Office, so that a smooth handover will ensure and all project funds are disbursed according to the workplan and budget.

During this fourth Project Steering Committee meeting, the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar was represented by the Ministry of Hotels & Tourism, Education, Labour, Immigration & Population, Planning & Finance, Border Affairs, as well as representatives from the private sector, tourism associations, educational institutions, and others. The Luxembourg Chargé d’Affaires from the Lao PDR, Mr. Sam Schreiner, the LuxDev Resident Representative, Mr. Quentin Bourdeaux, along with Project staff, also attended the meeting.

The MYA/001 project is financed by the Luxembourg Development Cooperation and implemented by LuxDev.
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- 5 December
- By Do Hoang Le Cam
- VIE/032
- Inclusive and innovative finance
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VIETNAM - New Securities Law passed by the National Assembly, officially taking effect in 2021
On 26 November, the National Assembly officially gave the green light to the new Securities Law after it was voted by elected deputies. The amended Law on Securities will replace the previous version and take effect from the 1st January 2021. It consists of 10 chapters and 135 articles regulating securities and securities market activities, the rights and obligations of institutions and individuals operating in this field and the organization of the stock market

Delegates of the National Assembly vote on the amended Securities Law at the eighth session of the 14th National Assembly on 26 November 2019. © Finance Magazine of Vietnam

The approval of the new law comes after years of hard work that the local authorities put into the revision of the old law, taking into account both the recommendations of both local and foreign experts and the lessons learnt from other international capital markets.

It is also important to acknowledge the contributions of international experts mobilized within the framework of the Support Vietnam’s Securities Market Consolidation and Improve Training Capacities Project, VIE/032, as well as the support received from financial institutions based in Luxembourg and other European countries.

Project VIE/032 in particular, has provided the State Securities Commission (SSC) with appropriate advice and recommendations on the new Securities Law including on key policy areas such as public offering and private placement, securities intermediaries, information disclosure, and corporate governance. This will ultimately help Vietnam to build financial sector capacity by upgrading the stock market’s legal and governance framework.

The National Assembly decided that there shall be only one stock exchange responsible for the administration and risk management of the stock market and the organization of securities transactions. However, as the restructuring and merging of the two exchanges will not happen immediately, the government will progressively redefine the functions and tasks of the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) and the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HSX). For now, both stock exchanges will be managed and operated separately in a bid to strengthen their operational efficiency prior to a future merger.

Accordingly, all bond and derivative securities transactions will now be conducted at HNX, while all stock transactions will be handled by HSX, which will subsequently help to establish a single index across the system.
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- 5 December
- By Philip Pearce
- LAO/031
- Governance
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LAOS - 2019 accomplishments are ratified and 2020 plan is approved.
During the Steering Committee of the Support Programme for Legal Teaching and Training and to the Promotion of the Rule of Law Concept in Laos, LAO/031, chaired by Mrs. Khanthaly Siriphongphanh, Vice Minister of Education and Sports, Mr. Bounsavard Boupha, Vice Minister of Justice, and co-chaired by Mr. Sam Schreiner, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg in Lao PDR, it was noted that the LAO/031 project had made great progress over the course of 2019.

The meeting took place on 28 November 2019 at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Vientiane, Lao PDR.

Its most notable achievements are:
- the establishment of four (4) legal aid offices in various provinces; and
- the project contribution towards increasing awareness on legal issues and the rule of law via the production of technical guides and the dissemination of the newly established Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Law for legal practitioners.
Mr. Boupha stated that these accomplishments put the project’s activities in the right direction and that these are aligned with the priorities of the Ministry of Justice and the Lao PDR’s efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 16.

The Project Steering Committee also:
- considered strategic decisions with regard to the implementation of the project;
- reviewed project performance; and
- validated and endorsed the annual work plan as well as other resolutions required for the smooth running of the project.
For the next year, the PSC stated that Project LAO/031 will continue with the activities carried out in 2019, but will put further emphasis on the Faculty of Law and Political Science’s target to attain ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) standards by the end of the project in 2022.

With the project’s Mid-Term Evaluation planned for early 2020, both Mrs. Siriphongphanh and Mr. Schreiner commended the project for its work and the high number of beneficiaries that have already benefitted from the numerous capacity building workshops organised by the project.

The LAO/031 project is financed by the Luxembourg Cooperation and implemented by LuxDev the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency.
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- 28 November
- By Mone SYSAVATH
- Asia Office LAO/030
- Socio-economic development
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LAOS - A small loan can lift a poor rice farmer out of povertyA story of Bounthavy Daungphachanh
Being a rice farmer, I used to be very poor and I did not have enough food for myself and my family for the year. With little money, no labour and no knowledge on how to improve the soil and the variety of rice, we had very low harvests. So I decided to apply for a loan from the village credit scheme and my first request for a 3,000,000-kip loan was accepted. I used that money to improve the yields by hiring more workers to plant and look after my rice fields, by getting a tractor and by buying more fertiliser to use in my rice fields. Thanks to the credit scheme, I am now able to grow rice seasonally and have good harvests. Now I have enough to eat and a better livelihood.

To find out more about Bounthavy’s story, watch this video:

The village credit scheme, or village bank, is part of LAO/030 Local Development Programme’s efforts to help lift the poor out of extreme poverty and to bring them over the national poverty line. The Programme works in 14 of some of the poorest districts of Bokeo, Bolikhamxay, Khammouane and Vientiane provinces, encompassing 229 villages and counting together 150 000 people, 70% of whom come from various ethnic groups.

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- 27 November
- By MYA/001 Project
- Asia Office MYA/001
- Education, vocationnal training and employment
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MYANMAR - Yangon students flying high
On 1 November 2019, Yangon Aerodrome Company Limited (YACL) signed a partnership agreement with the Human Resources Development in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector Project - MYA/001 to provide internship opportunities at Yangon International Airport and to offer select staff of senior operations to teach relevant travel and tourism modules at the Centre for Tourism Development (CTD) in Yangon.

YACL will also collaborate with the project in order to help develop the curriculum to train local tourism and travel students who are interested in aviation and airport operations. The students will be able to draw upon YACL’s industry knowledge to develop their skills and experience in the field.

As part of the MoU, CTD will put forward eligible student interns, while YACL will supervise and assess them onsite, provide trainers, training venues, and working arrangements, among other tasks. Upon completion of the internship program, YACL hopes to create a pool of aviation professionals capable of supporting the growing demand for qualified aviation staff.

The MoU was signed by Mr. Pedro Cavem, Operations and Safety Director of YACL, and Mr. Geert De Bruycker, Chief Technical Coordinator, who stated that “the MoU commemorates the joint efforts between the project and YACL in building cooperation to develop local human resource capacity and to improve service”.

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- 26 November
- By MYA/001 Project
- Asia Office MYA/001
- Education, vocationnal training and employment
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MYANMAR - Community-Based Tourism Standards
World Tourism Day 2019 saw the national launch of the newly approved Myanmar Community-Based Tourism (CBT) Standards at the Myanmar International Conference Centre in Naypyitaw on 27 September 2019. Led and funded by the Human Resources Development in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector Project - MYA/001, the CBT Standards are an agreed set of clear and detailed criteria that define precisely how to identify CBT within a local context. The CBT Standards were officially handed to the Union Minister of MoHT by a Project MYA/001 representative.

The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (MoHT) defined CBT as one of the three priority pillars of tourism development. Stakeholders have high hopes that CBT can contribute to grassroots human capacity development, poverty alleviation and the promotion of culture in the next years.

The Myanmar CBT Standards were developed to help protect and guarantee the credibility of Myanmar CBT by creating confidence in minimum levels of quality, safety and sustainability performance. Standards can initially be used as a tool to identify gaps and training needs: providing a clear roadmap for communities to systematically improve their performance to reach the standards. Later, standards can be used as a tool to check and guarantee the quality of CBT programmes.

Following the event, from 27-30 September 2019 a 4-day workshop on implementing the CBT Standards was funded and facilitated by expert trainers from the project in Naypyitaw, with over 100 participants from more than 35 CBT projects across Myanmar. The participants did not only gain essential knowledge about business planning and sustainable operations, but also had the opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences. The workshop was very well received and every delegate received a trainee handbook on the content of the workshop, as well as a newly printed copy of the standards.
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- 20 November
- By Sandrine THINNES
- Asia Office MYA/002
- Socio-economic development
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MYANMAR - Pig farming a lucrative activity
The Eastern Shan State Rural Development and Inclusion Project, MYA/002, recently established 5 pig model farms in selected villages of the target area south-west of Kyaing Tong city in Eastern Shan State.

The MYA/002 team selected 5 farmers willing to start a pig model farm after training Community Animal Health Care Workers in each village and running several information campaigns amongst the 70 targeted villages. The farmers then signed an agreement to follow the new breeding techniques, improved feeding plan and products, as well as to apply humane husbandry practices.

Although small livestock like poultry and pigs are kept close to the houses, the animals are free to roam around throughout the day. They get fed once a day with leftovers or if the family can afford it with some cooked rice bran. Due to this traditional way of keeping small livestock, the animals are left mostly to their own demise which increases spreading of diseases, excrements and last but not least destroying vegetable gardens and eating any garbage they can find.

The pig model farm promotes the construction of a pig pen, use of specialised animal fattening feed (which does not need cooking) and supplements like Ruzi grass, cleaning of the stables twice daily and regular treatments/vaccinations (including castration of male pigs).

Vet Infomation Campaign

The first trials have shown that by using the improved feeding plan, the fattening period of the local black mountain pig can be reduced from 16 to 6 months and reaching a good marketable size. The farmers have also noted that the local variety pigs if kept according to the improved techniques have a much healthier aspect.

Obviously, the project is supporting these model farms with the specialised feed (local production in Myanmar) but only for 6 months as the business plan then allows for the breeding farm to run sustainably on its own.

Some neighbouring villages have already made their interest known to follow the guidelines, amongst them the small villages of Loi Kye 1&2 and the 11 households of the La Hu Shi tribe (usually nomadic) have surpassed the project’s expectations.

The poorest part of Loi Kye 1 village

Their animal health care workers had invited all the households to construct pig pens with material that they had available. They then invited the project to come and check asking to be supported with roofing sheets and the specialised feed. The villages had even plotted some areas to grow the Ruzi grass.

Honouring this exemplary initiative, the project provided the roofing sheets, fattening feed and training on how to mix the feed ratios and supplements. These households are all living far below the poverty line so that the fattening of their pigs represents a legal and lucrative income activity.

Livestock traders have already noticed an improved quality and availability of cattle and pigs in the targeted area. They are now more interested in negotiating higher prices as the livestock is treated, vaccinated and of a much healthier constitution. A 6 months old pig fed according to the new techniques can be sold for 150 000 MMK (88 EUR) whereas before the farmer needed to wait at least one year before the marketable size was reached.

Other positive side effects are a cleaner environment in the village, decrease of exposure to diseases for humans and animals, decline in home gardens being raided by hungry pigs and also decrease in using of fire wood as cooking animal feed becomes unnecessary.
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- 20 November
- By Raja CHOWDHRY
- Asia Office VIE/034
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VIETNAM - Calling in the ExpertsHue Tourism College Assists Bac Kan Vocational College to Review Tourism Curriculum
On 21st of May 2019, Ms Tran Thi Bach Mai, Vice-Director of the Job Placement Centre and instructor specialising in hotel and reception trades, together with Ms Hoang Thi Nhu Hong, Head of the catering trade of Hue Tourism College, visited Bac Kan in order to assist the teachers of Bac Kan Vocational College (BKVC) in reviewing the new tourism curriculum.

The workshop on reviewing the tourism curriculum was conducted in the presence of Hue Tourism College, Bac Kan Vocational College and the owner of a home stay in Ba Be district.

With more than 20 years of experience, Hue Tourism College is one of the top 10 vocational education and training colleges in Vietnam. Through their vocational training programs, they provide skilled human resources for the tourism and hospitality industry in Vietnam. Currently, Hue Tourism College owns 2 training facilities and 1 practical centre named Villa Hue amounting to a total area of more than 17,000 square meters in the heart of the imperial city. Moreover, the school is presently building 3 additional facilities with a total land area of 20 hectares in Huong Thuy district, 7 km to the south, located on the outskirts of the city.

Villa Hue – the practical centre for students of the Hue Tourism College was funded by Luxembourg

Between 1999 and 2013, Hue Tourism College received financial support and technical assistance from Luxembourg, aimed at the construction of facilities and the capacity building of teachers. This linkage facilitated the cooperation between Hue Tourism College and Bac Kan Vocational College, which is receiving similar support from Luxembourg. Ever since BKVC has sent 4 of their teachers to join a three-month training course in tourism services organised by Hue Tourism School, the two colleges enjoy and maintain a close partnership.

Ms Tran Thi Bach Mai, Vice-Director of the Job Placement Centre and instructor specialised in hotel and reception trades, added her comments on the curriculum.

Since the signing of a cooperation agreement with BKVC in 2018, the management of Hue Tourism College has supported BKVC in the opening of a tourism trade and the design of an outcome-based curriculum. In the workshop, the teachers of BKVC presented and defended the content of their curriculum, which resulted from the training course in Hue Tourism College, in front of the appraisal committee.

Endowed with rich natural resources, picturesque landscapes and the largest fresh water lake in South–East Asia, the tourism industry has the potential to become a key constituent of future economic development in Bac Kan province. As such, Hue Tourism College will continue to assist Bac Kan Vocational College in their development of tourism occupation programs.
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