PRIMEX won its first major contract in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic through the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Technical Assistance for Strengthening the Capacity for Health Sector Governance Reforms (TA 9190-LAO) of the Ministry of Health (MOH). The contract was signed on 24 November 2016, and the kick-off meeting was held at ADB on 29 November 2016.
Dr. Gerard Servais, Senior Health Specialist, led the discussions with the PRIMEX Team composed of Ms. Elvira C. Ablaza, President and CEO/Project Director; Dr. Vincent de Wit, Team Leader/Health Governance Expert; and Mr. Leo R. Pura, PRIMEX Vice President for Technical Services/Project Manager.
The TA aims to strengthen the capacity of MOH and the provincial health offices in supporting the health sector reform process in four subsectors, namely: governance, planning and budgeting, health human resources development, and public financial management.
“This is a big achievement for PRIMEX and is a great way to end 2016. The project has its challenges, but we are confident that, with a strong team of highly qualified international experts with an excellent understanding of the situation in the Lao health sector, PRIMEX will be able to deliver the expected outputs in the next 21 months.”
Ms. Elvira Ablaza, PRIMEX President and CEO
On 28-29 November 2016, Ms. Ablaza and Mr. Pura traveled to Vientiane to join Dr. de Wit and some other PRIMEX international consultants to join the kick-off meeting of the ADB Review Mission for the Health Governance Program Loan in Vientiane.
Dr. Servais led the review mission together with Ms. Mariangela Paz Medina, Project Analyst. The Consultant Team comprised Ms. Ablaza and Mr. Pura representing PRIMEX Management and the following international consultants: Dr. Vincent de Wit, Governance Specialist/ Team Leader; Mr. Andrew Keith, Public Financial Management Specialist/Deputy Team Leader; Dr. Sophal Oum, Education Development and Regulation Specialist; and Mr. Michael Vernaillen, Health Personnel Management Information Specialist.
cover photo: L-R: Ms. Mariangela Paz Medina, Project Analys; Mr. Leo Pura, PRIMEX Vice President for Technical Services and Project Manager; Ms. Elvira C. Ablaza, PRIMEX President and CEO/Project Director; Dr Alain Noel, Team Leaderof the HSGP TA Loan; Dr. Vincent De Wit, Governance Specialist and Team Leader; Mr. Michael Vernaillen, Health Personnel Management Information Specialist; Dr. Sophal Oum, Education Development and Regulation Specialist; Ms. Emi Masaki of ADB; and Dr. Gerard Servais, Senior Health Specialist.