First expert workshop for FREPLA 2020 held in Vientiane, Lao PDR

The First Expert Workshop of Project “Future Resource Economy and Policies in Laos till the year 2020 (FREPLA 2020)” was held on 3rd of June 2009, Vientiane, Lao PDR with the opening speech by Mr. Hatsady Sisoulath, the Deputy Director General from Ministry of Energy and Mines and getting together 32 people from different ministries of Government of Lao PDR and from different organizations for expert discussions. The work shop was the first of a series of 5 workshops held in the future.
The one day event organized by the Department of Electricity (Ministry of Energy and Mines) and Turku School of Economics took place in Lao Plaza hotel kicking off with morning expert presentations and discussions followed by four afternoon working group discussions on Rural Electrification, Potential and Utilization of Renewable Energy in Lao PDR, Cooking Energy: Can We Give Up from Using Wood? and Hydro Power and Water Resources. The working groups presented their findings in the late afternoon for all the participants and the workshop was summarized in concluding marks by FFRC staff.
The workshop was very successful in terms of attendance as well as the discussions held and information shared. It provided also a venue to have different ministries to cooperate and share views and creating future forum for cooperation and information sharing within different ministries.