On November 11, 2025, a delegation from Lao PDR led by the Vice Minister of Finance of the Lao PDR Madame Phonevanh Outhavong, visited the World Bank Tokyo Office. Yoshiyuki Arima, the World Bank Treasury’s Representative for Japan, briefed the delegation on catastrophe bonds issued by World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)—their basic structure and payout mechanism—drawing on examples from past issuances.

Madame Outhavong is overseeing the World Bank-financed Laos–Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Management Project, which aims to reduce the impacts of flooding, strengthen flood early warning systems, and provide disaster risk financing to enhance disaster preparedness and response. The delegation visited Japan to learn more about Japanese approaches to these issues and met with key counterparts from the Government of Japan.

Keiko Saito, Senior Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Specialist at the Tokyo DRM Hub, under the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), also joined the meeting and outlined how, through the Japan–World Bank DRM Program supported by the Government of Japan, the World Bank leverages Japanese expertise and technologies to strengthen disaster resilience globally.