Borikhan first to be struck off list of 47 poorest districts

Borikhan district in Borikhamxay province was the first to be removed from the government's list of the 47 poorest districts in Laos yesterday, after district authorities announced successful poverty reduction there as a result of long-term development efforts.

Vice President Bounnhang Vorachit speaks to a silk trader after attending the poverty eradication announcement in Borikhan district yesterday.
More than 1,000 people gathered for the ceremony as senior officials, local authorities and residents of the district joined to celebrate the announcement by Borikhan district Governor Khen Lormany.

Vice President Bounnhang Vorachit, Borikhamxay Governor Khampane Philavong, and Minister to the Prime Minister's Office and President of the Lao National Leading Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, Mr Ounneua Phomachanh, also attended the ceremony.

“The government agrees to declare poverty eradication in your district. It is the first to be deleted from the list of the 47 poorest districts in Laos and this certifies your efforts and the great successes by your people in poverty reduction,” said Mr Bounnhang.

He said the declaration also reflected the wise Party leadership of district and provincial authorities.

On behalf of the Party and state, he congratulated and admired the success of the district in achieving this goal.

“We declare Borikhan to be the first district to eradicate poverty among the 47 poorest districts in Laos . This is a good example for other districts as they work to eradicate poverty,” Mr Bounnhang said.

The vice president said this success was only the first step towards lasting development and creating the conditions necessary to help Laos achieve its goal of no longer being a least developed country by 2020.

Borikhan district covers more than 3,000 square kilometres, and has a population of 37,900 people living in 45 villages.

Mr Khen said yesterday that during the 2001-02 academic year an international roundtable meeting held in Laos listed his district as one of the 47 poorest in the country.

From 2004 to 2008 the government carried out a programme to improve living conditions in the district with the help of the government of Luxembourg . Under the programme, 14 projects were implemented with a budget of 2.1 million euros.

“One of our approaches to eradicating poverty was to help local people develop strategies in line with the conditions, practices and capacities of each family. We also focused on changing production from self-sufficiency to trade, especially by growing crops and raising livestock,” Mr Khen said.

Better land management had helped provide local people with farmland to enable them to end slash and burn cultivation, and improved infrastructure was also a factor in helping to eradicate poverty.

“Creating a poverty eradication plan helped us to better living conditions and improved conditions for every family, village and village group in the district towards comprehensive development,” he said.

Mr Khen said the district had abundant natural resources such as rivers, forests and arable land. The district currently has more than 3,580 hectares of rice fields, although only 443 hectares are planted in the dry season.

Other crops are grown on 2,172 hectares, up 27 percent compared to 2005.

The district's GDP has reached more than 186 billion kip with an average annual per capita income of US$607, an increase of 64 percent compared to 2005, he said.

By Panyasith Thammavongsa
(Latest Update December 24, 2009)