NA secures funding for human resource development

The National Assembly (NA) has issued a resolution that endorses a government plan to secure a large amount of funding for the education and health sectors, aimed at improving the quality of human resources.
According to the Assembly’s resolution on the state budget for 2020, which was made available at the planning and finance meeting last week, the government must secure 4,098 billion kip for the Ministry of Education and Sports and 2,283 billion kip for the Ministry of Health for use in administration and investment projects.
The Assembly’s endorsement of the state budget for 2020, which specifically secures funding for these two ministries, is viewed as a legal measure to prevent the government from transferring money allocated for these sectors to other ministries.
The total state expenditure for 2020 endorsed by the NA is 35,693 billion kip, according to the resolution, which was signed by Assembly President Mrs Pany Yathotou on November 11.
The resolution stresses that the administration budget for the education ministry should be 3,484 billion kip while the investment budget should be 613 billion kip, of which 522 billion kip will come from Official Development Assistance (ODA).
The health ministry will receive an administration budget of 1,692 billion kip and 591 billion kip for investment funding, of which 555 billion kip to be used for investment will be sourced from ODA.
In addition to the specific budget allocation for the education and health ministries, the resolution requires the government to make 26 billion kip or 1 percent of total investment available for science and technology research.
The Ministry of Science and Technology will manage research funding but the NA is urging all sectors, ranging from environmental protection to security and defence, to apply for this funding.
The Assembly’s decision to endorse a specific budget for the education and health ministries comes amid increasing calls to improve the quality of human resources, to meet the country’s growing development needs.
The secured budget for the health ministry also aims to enable the government to improve the health of the population in line with the global development agenda, which the government has promised to fulfil by 2030.
The government is also rolling out a policy to diversify the economic base and end its economic reliance on the natural resource sector. To this end, the government has stepped up efforts to source funding to improve human capital and build a knowledge-based economy.

By Ekaphone Phouthonesy
(Latest Update December 20, 2019)