Since I work with the World Bank Group as a program assistant in the infrastructure and transport sector. My responsibilities include coordinating with governments, ministries, and the implementation representative unit from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) to enhance cooperation to bring the impactful outcome activities to the World Bank transport projects in Laos. I am also involved with development partners such as the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the European Union, the European Investment Bank, the Nordic Development Fund, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
From the project I have been responsible for named the Southeast Asia Regional Economic Corridor and Connectivity Project (SEARECC). With the overview, critical issues that we identified are that Lao’s transport infrastructure is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather events and climate change. The transport sector accounted for 65.6 percent of the overall damage and 40 percent of losses from the flooding and landslides during July–August 2018. About one-fifth of the Lao PDR road network was damaged.
My leadership contributed to the tasks of team leader in the project and made the success of the team possible. Because I used my expertise to coordinate with several stakeholders. Creating a cordial dialogue making sure all partners are in the same page following the project objectives. Moreover, I also keep effective communication with people professionally set up meetings, missions, and workshops. Enabling all participants to be informed and engaged more closely with each other, not just face to face meeting but also via Zoom online meetings.
Another approach team leaders, and I frequently travel to sites to monitor the project management with team from MPWT. Organizing the meeting with stakeholders and local government in provinces in Luang Namtha, Phongsaly, Oudomxay, Sayabouly, and Luang Prabang province. To ensure that project monitoring and supervision consultants work closely with local government officials and authorities to align the World Bank policies and regulations. The project also benefits community people and local contractors for laboring to generate income, resettlement and environmental impact awareness for sustainability.
Overall, my contribution to solving the challenges in logistics and transport is to utilize the skills and my leadership experiences to coordinate with MPWT, provincial authorities, and development partners successfully in Laos. With a clear understanding of the project objectives and putting high effort into myself, I can create effective methods to communicate with all stakeholders to support my task team leaders to execute the project management smoothly.