Thailand has received two technical assistance grants, funded by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) and administered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to support water and flood management, and to assist with accounting and financial management reform in the railway sector.
24 January 2013: Thailand has received two technical assistance grants, funded by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) and administered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), to support water and flood management, and to assist with accounting and financial management reform in the railway sector.
The grants were jointly launched by the ADB’s Thailand Resident Mission, Thailand’s Ministry of Finance and the Embassy of Japan.
One grant consists of $1.5 million for project on Strengthening Integrated Water and Flood Management Implementation, which will be implemented from 2013-2015 and aims to help develop guidelines, checklists and information management systems to monitor and evaluate the implementation and impact of flood management in Thailand. Among other things, and in line with the country’s Master Plan for Water Resources Management, the project will develop frameworks for water assessments and system analysis and innovative approaches for stakeholder consultation.
The second grant involves $0.95 million to enhance the country’s economic competitiveness by improving railway sector performance. It will assist the improvement of accounting and financial information systems for the State Railway of Thailand, and aims to support the Government’s commitments to reforming the rail sector, including its goal of increasing the share of rail in freight transport from 2% to 8% by 2020. The railway reform also aims to reduce Thailand’s dependency on fossil fuels and road freight, thereby reducing the country’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. [ADB Press Release]