Pilot Projects Offer East Asia A Better Pathway Against Poverty

Text of the publicity video: In the Laotian village of Ban Xor, many people line up to throw beans into bowls. The atmosphere is so festive that it feels like a holiday. Can you guess what they are doing? They are actually voting for the livelihood issue that most importantly requires their attention under the guidance of Chinese experts, and use the beans to decide whether to build a road, a bridge, or a tap water system. In fact, similar scenes are simultaneously taking place in six villages in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. These villagers’ full participation and self-reliance is one of the keys to shake off poverty in these regions.

Along with Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, China is launching several pilot projects for poverty reduction at the village level, committing to the “East Asia Cooperation Initiative on Poverty Reduction” proposed by China’s Premier Li Keqiang at the 17thASEAN Plus Three Summit held on November 13 2014.

After discussion and communication between the Chinese, Laos, Cambodian and Myanmar governments, the Pilot Project of Poverty Reduction Cooperation in East Asia will be implemented in six villages.

For the swift realization of this project, the IPRCC, with the great support of the governments of China, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, is leading a work team and engaging in exchanges with the related governmental departments. After one year of full cooperation and serious preparations, preliminary work for the project has been jointly completed, including feasibility studies, approval and note exchanges.

The project is based on cooperation and sharing. The Chinese poverty reduction departments will work hand in hand with the three countries’ counterparts at all levels, jointly organizing, participating in, and implementing all stages of the project, from design to execution. Great importance is attached to sharing and exchanging ideas and experiences in matters of poverty reduction in order to achieve common progress.

The project has put forward a three-year plan promoting the building of infrastructures such as roads and water facilities, supporting rural industries such as plantation and cultivation, enhancing communal environments, providing supplies, and dispatching experts for training. This plan is also meant to integrate capacity building with the people's strong desire to shake off poverty in order to increase the endogenous development momentum.

This project features three prominent characteristics:

1. Villager participation, which is to be featured in theory and in practice throughout the whole design, planning, implementation, supervision and inspection process in order to trigger the villagers’ enthusiasm and initiative.

2. Comprehensive development, which includes a precise, varied and flexible plan for each sub-item of the poverty alleviation process, no matter how big or small, optimizing their mutual synergistic effect.

3. Targeted design, or “targeted poverty reduction”, which is integrated into the project and based on the actual conditions and demands of poverty-stricken villages and villagers, from initial feasibility studies to final implementation plans.

As all sides work in common efforts and close collaboration, we believe the people of these pilot project villages will change their destiny with their own hands and create a better future.

Cooperation and Sharing

Together, we build a better future.

Pilot Project of Poverty Reduction Cooperation

• Management Unit

Agency for International Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China

• Co-Management Unit

International Poverty Reduction Center in China

• Implementation Unit

Cambodia-China Project

Rural Economic Development Department, Ministry of Rural Development of the Kingdom of Cambodia

The Project Center, Sichuan Poverty Alleviation and Immigration Bureau

Laos-China Project

Planning and International Cooperation Department, National Committee of Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, Lao PDR

Guangxi Foreign Capital Poverty Reduction Management Center

Myanmar-China Project

Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar

International Poverty Reduction and Development Center of Yunnan Province