PRESS RELEASE
Handover Ceremony and 7th and Final Joint Coordinating Committee, held under
JICA’s Project for Capacity Development on Bridge Maintenance andManagement
Vientiane Capital, 18th March, 2024 – Vice Minister of Public Works and Transport, officials fromDepartment of Roads (DOR), Public Works and Transport Institute (PTI) and Department of Public
Works and Transport (DPWT) as well as lecturers from National University of Laos (NUOL) joined
together for the Handover Ceremony and 7th and Final Joint Coordinating Committee, held
under the JICA supported Project for Capacity Development on Bridge Maintenance andManagement (JICA-BMM)
JICA has been playing a key role in improving the road network in Lao PDR. Recently, JICA has
successfully delivered assistance to a number of projects in infrastructure sector such as Projectfor Improvement of National Road No.9 in East-West Economic Corridor of the Mekong Region(Grant agreement signed in 2011), the Project for Construction of Sekong Bridge on NR 16B in
the Southern Region of Laos (Grant agreement signed in 2014), and the Reconstruction of theBridges on National Road No.9 (Grant agreement signed in 2016). These road asset infrastructure
projects significantly contribute to strengthening connectivity with neighboring countries,achieving balanced regional economic growth, and facilitating cross-border trade, which areamong the priority development strategies stipulated in the Lao National Socio-Economic
Development Plan.
In addition to the support to improve those road asset infrastructure, JICA’s assistance in theroad asset management has been also channeling to the Technical Assistance to improve thecapacity to maintain and manage said road asset infrastructure to make the effective use of themand maximize the social and economic benefits derived from well maintained and managedinfrastructure. JICA commenced the Project for Capacity Development on Bridge Maintenanceand Management (JICA-BMM) in November 2020 and will complete the Project by April 2024.
The goal of the JICA-BMM project is to deliver the improved capacity to maintain and manage
the bridges on the National Roads and to accomplish this, a counterpart team comprised of
officials from DOR, PTI and DPWTs of Vientiane, Savannakhet and Champasak provinces has beenworking closely with the JICA Expert Team to improve (i) bridge inspection and diagnosis capacity,(ii) bridge repair and maintenance capacity and (iii) operation and management capacity ofBridge Management System (BMS) and (iv) capacity for bridge maintenance planning . In thecourse of the JICA-BMM project, the counterparts and JICA Expert Team delivered (i) Bridge
Inspection and Diagnosis Manual, (ii) Bridge Repair and Retrofitting Manual, (iii) Bridge
Management System and (iv) Joint trainings for 151 staff from DPWT/OPWT as bridge inspectors
across the country.

As part of the JICA-BMM project activities , Public-Private-Academia collaboration has beenpracticed in the form of (i) introduction and application of Japanese technologies for bridge
maintenance and management, and (ii) networking among Japanese and Lao public andacademic institutions. The notable achievement in the Public-Private-Academia collaboration is
successfully organizing 1st and 2nd Laos-Japan Joint Seminars on “Road Asset Management” toshare knowledge and experience between Laos and Japan for further development of civilengineering in both countries. Other achievements include (i) provision of special lecture byJapanese professionals at the Faculty of Engineering, NUOL and (ii) participation in academic
conferences by the counterparts including submission of the academic papers.
During the Handover Ceremony, JICA officially handed over the bridge inspection tools andequipment including one unit of bridge inspection patrol vehicle and UAV (Drone). Dr. Tsuyoshi
Yamamoto, Senior Representative of JICA and Mr. Lamphoun Khounpakdy, Deputy Head, Road
Administration Division, DOR exchanged the Deed of Donation in the presence of Mr. Litta
KHATTIYA Vice Minister of Public Works and Transport as a witness.
After the Hanover Ceremony, the counterparts and JICA Expert Team continued to demonstrate
the achievement of the JICA-BMM project in the 7th and Final JCC. Two parties also agreed upon(i) continuous periodic bridge inspection by DPWT/OPWT staffs under supervision of the DOR,(ii) operation and maintenance of BMS developed under JICA-BMM and preparation of amaintenance revenue/expenditure plan from long- and mid-term bridge repair needs, (iii)
securing annual bridge repair and maintenance budget in a proactive manner, and (iv) continued
Public-Private-Academia collaboration for sustainable bridge management.

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Intensive Bridge Inspection and Repair Training (Classroom Training)Intensive Bridge Inspection and Repair Training (On-site Training for Pilot Inspection by Tablet
based Inspection System)

Intensive Bridge Inspection and Repair Training (On-site Training for Pilot Inspection)

Intensive Bridge Inspection and Repair Training (Certificate Award Ceremony)

Pilot Bridge Repair Works (Nammone Bridge)

Pilot Bridge Repair Works (Nammone Bridge)

Pilot Bridge Repair Works (Nammone Bridge)

Pilot Bridge Repair Works (Nammone Bridge)

Pilot Bridge Repair Works (Xe Bangnouan Bridge)

Pilot Bridge Repair Works (Xe Bangnouan Bridge)

Overseas Training in Japan (Nagasaki Prefecture)

Overseas Training in Japan (Nagasaki Prefecture)

Overseas Training in Japan (Nagasaki University)

Overseas Training in Thailand