The following is the company's response addressed to the Special Procedures Branch of the United Nations' Office of the High Commission for Human Rights:

11 September 2020

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The Bank and other syndicated lenders required PNPC to comply with applicable laws including the environmental and social impact matters as required by the Government of Lao PDR ("GOL"). Before the construction of the dam, PNPC prepared the Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") and Social Impact Assessment ("SIA") in compliance with Lao PDR's applicable laws. Their EIA and SIA were approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment ("MoNRE") of COL.

Regarding the human right issue, the EIA and SIA were prepared with the main objectives to cover social issues and impacts on Project Affected People ("PAP") in the existing communities. The EIA and SIA also recommended social services that are to be provided in order to improve PAP's quality of life and reduce the impacts on the communities. The Bank reviewed the EIA and SIA and noticed that, during the EIA and SIA preparation, PNPC also conducted the public consultation that emphasized on the public's perception and comments, as well as insights and suggestions provided by affected communities. The assessments also covered the ethnic group in the project area and proposed the mitigation measures for the impacts on culture and traditions of each ethnic group.

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After the incident occurred, the bank, syndicated lenders, together with PNPC and PNPC's shareholders held several meetings with GOL including the Ministry of Planning and Investment ("MPI") who is responsible for the Concession Agreement in order to resolve problems caused by the incident and to aid the affected people.

PNPC and its shareholders have set up Working Groups comprising the Technical Working Group and the Environmental & Social Working Group with the objectives to follow up on the incident investigation and update the progress of re-construction work. The LTA was a member of both Working Groups as a representative of Lenders- In addition to the investigation and re-construction progress updates, the Environmental & Social Working Group has monitored progress of compensation and rehabilitation plans. These working groups enable the Bank to monitor actions taken by the project closely.

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