Crown Agents hosted the third South East Asia Community Access Programme (SEACAP) Practitioners Meeting
Crown Agents hosted the third South East Asia Community Access Programme (SEACAP) Practitioners Meeting in Vietiane, Laos, towards the end of 2008.
As in previous years, there was considerable interest in the event. Over 130 participants from SEACAP partner countries, and throughout the region and beyond attended. Representatives from DFID's Central Research Department, research institutions, consultancy firms and donors, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and AusAID participated in the event.
The meeting provided a good opportunity for those involved in SEACAP to consider the progress made and set new targets for the future. The standards, specifications and technical solutions developed under SEACAP were presented. As the host country, the Minister of Public Works and Transport of Laos, Sommad Pholsena, thanked SEACAP for its support and explained that, with 30% of their transport network classed as "rural roads", they were keen to build on the work. The meeting was followed by a field trip to see slope stabilisation techniques developed under SEACAP.
About SEACAP
The GBP 7.5million DFID-funded SEACAP is managed by Crown Agents' Hanoi office and has been running since 2004. The programme was established to provide rural access solutions in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia through applied research. SEACAP develops low cost solutions that maximise the use of local resources and respond to the local environment. Once appropriate solutions are developed and trialled, this knowledge is disseminated through conferences, workshops, study tours and multi-media platforms and mainstreamed into recipient government's official procedures and education/training systems. SEACAP also works closely with donors, such as ADB and the World Bank, so the knowledge generated under the programme can be integrated into their rural access programmes.
The work of SEACAP has been welcomed by recipient governments as they lack their own rural access research capacity. While approximately a quarter of all global development spending focuses on transport, very little is spent on research, especially on rural access.
SEACAP's objectives align closely with those of the three recipient countries, which are all officially committed to improving rural access. His Excellency Suos Kong, Secretary of State, Ministry of Rural Development in Cambodia, explained the importance of SEACAP to the Cambodian media,
"The government intends to make rural development a national priority. For the Ministry of Rural Development,
this will involve ramping up our rural roads program. This is key for our efforts in battling rural poverty in Cambodia"
This has been echoed by Vietnam and Laos, as the region recognises that only when isolated rural communities have sufficient access to markets, goods, employment, healthcare and education, will sustainable improvements in poverty levels be achievable.