On December 4, 2024, in Vientiane, the capital of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mr. KOIZUMI Tsutomu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Mr. Mark-Andre PROST, Country Director, World Food Programme in Lao PDR, signed and exchanged notes for the Grant Aid “Food Assistance Programme” (grant amount: 200 million yen).
- Laos is vulnerable to natural disasters, and food shortages are particularly severe during the rainy season, when the risk of heavy rainfall and flooding is high, as it is also the pre-harvest period for farmers. In addition, the combination of the economic crisis caused by rapid inflation in recent years has resulted in food shortages due to a significant reduction in income, particularly in rural areas, and food aid is urgently needed.
- This cooperation aims to improve food security in southern Laos by providing food aid that provides rice and canned fish produced in Japan.
(Reference) Basic Data on the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
The country covers 240,000 square kilometers (about the same size as Japan's main island of Honshu) with a population of approximately 7.63 million people and, its gross national income (GNI) per capita is US$2,120 (2023, World Bank).