At the working session, leaders of the provincial People’s Committee highly appreciated JICA’s coordination in professional exchanges and field surveys at Nậm Pồ reservoir, Nà Bủng commune, and Ma Thì Hồ reservoir, Na Sang commune. This is a project of significant importance in overcoming the shortage of production water, promoting crop restructuring, increasing income, and ensuring domestic water for residents in disadvantaged areas.

Điện Biên province currently has over 400,000ha of agricultural land, but the actively irrigated area only reaches about 25,000ha, accounting for nearly 6.3%. The dry season lasts from 5 to 6 months, causing difficulties for agricultural production. According to the proposal, the project includes 4 reservoirs with a total capacity of 22.4 million m³ and an inter-regional gravity pipeline system 434km long. The project is expected to provide irrigation water for 17,760ha of agricultural land, creating conditions to convert about 17,500ha to growing macadamia and Arabica coffee, while ensuring hygienic domestic water for approximately 40,000 people across 6 exceptionally disadvantaged communes.

To accelerate the investment preparation progress, the province has reviewed and adjusted the project’s technical design and scale in accordance with JICA’s recommendations, aiming to meet the criteria for a Category B environmental project. The province is currently finalizing contents related to border water sources, international legal safety, and investment procedures. Parallel to this, Điện Biên is stepping up investment attraction in the processing and consumption of flagship agricultural products, especially macadamia and coffee, while expanding cooperation with Japanese enterprises in developing high-tech agriculture.

The provincial People’s Committee requested JICA to support finalizing loan procedures, report survey results to competent Japanese authorities, complete professional dossiers, and coordinate in appraising the project. The province is committed to focusing its direction on ensuring sufficient counterpart funding, strictly managing, and effectively utilizing JICA’s ODA loan capital.

Ikeda Hiroyuki, Senior Representative of the JICA Vietnam Office, thanked Điện Biên province for its coordination and provision of information to serve the project’s survey and research. Ikeda Hiroyuki said that the province continue to supplement data on the reservoir system, the results of cooperation with Japanese enterprises, and the effectiveness of crop restructuring to finalize the report to be submitted to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The JICA representative evaluated that the project holds practical significance for Điện Biên province’s agricultural development orientation, while affirming that both sides will continue coordinating to complete the procedures and professional contents according to the roadmap.