KOICA furthers support for Savannakhet mapping project

The Lao government and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) have kicked off the Project for the Establishment of Geospatial Data Infrastructure and Capacity Building for Development of Special Economic Zones in Savannakhet province.
The over 51 billion kip (US$6 million) mapping project in Savannakhet is taking place from 2018-2021 and aims to accelerate the development of Special Economic Zones in Savannakhet by advancing the infrastructure for mapping.
The project kick-off meeting took place at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday and was attended by the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Khammanh Sounvileuth, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Laos, Mr Shin Sung-soon, and Resident Representative of KOICA to Laos, Mr Sungsoo Oh.

Director General of the Survey and Mapping Centre, Mr Kongkham Souringna, said the nation was implementing many projects such as building airports, hydroelectric power stations, water supplies, town and rural development, expanding telecommunication networks, building up industrial zones, and environmental conservation.
A key ingredient in all these projects was the need for highly accurate, up to date geographic information for planning, development and implementation, he said.
“In March last year we signed an agreement between KOICA and the Survey and Mapping Centre for this project and today is the first meeting for the Establishment of the Geographic Information System project.”
Mr Kongkham expressed his gratitude to the government of the Republic of Korea, the Korean people and KOICA for their assistance. The project would especially benefit Savannakhet province with precise and up to date data for socio-economic development and better town planning, expansion of infrastructure, and environmental conservation, he said.
“Furthermore, by implementing this project, Lao engineers will learn new technologies and gain experience from Korean technical experts in setting up a topographic information database, for sustainable use into the future,” Mr Kongkham said.
Mr Shin Sung-soon said that with lessons learnt from the first phase of the mapping project in Vientiane, the second phase in Savannakhet would also make great contributions to the planning and development of the southern urban area. Korea and Laos would work together to establish the National Spatial Data Infrastructure along with capacity building for officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, other authorities and local government of Savannakhet.
The establishment of a large scale digital topographical map would further the development of the Savannakhet Special Economic Zone, he said.
Mr Khammanh added that the completed project would also support socio-economic development, especially in the Savannakhet-Xeno Special Economic Zone, and possibly urban expansion in the province.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update April 26, 2019)