Dien Bien (VNA) - Delegations from the northern border province of Dien Bien and the northern Lao provinces of Phongsali, Oudomxay, Luang Prabang signed cooperation agreements for 2025 – 2027 at their talks in Dien Bien city on December 25.

Addressing the event, Secretary of the Dien Bien provincial Party Committee Tran Quoc Cuong highlighted the significance of the Lao delegations’ trip to attend the talks, saying that they contribute to strengthening friendship and close cooperation between the localities, and solidifying the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the Party and State of the two countries.

The cooperation agreements signed between Dien Bien and the Lao localities have facilitated information exchange related to important political and social events of each side; and expanded cooperation among the localities in many fields.

In the spirit of support, solidarity, and contribution to maintaining the special friendship, in the 2022 – 2024 period, Dien Bien’s authorities hosted and worked with 69 delegations from the Lao localities, while the Vietnamese locality sent 68 delegations to its Lao peers.

The areas of cooperation formalised through agreements related to Party and political system building, national defence – security and judicial cooperation, culture and socio-economic development, and fostering people-to-people friendship in border areas, have been actively pursued by the Vietnamese and Lao localities via talks, experience sharing, and training programmes for their officials, armed forces, and students.

Dien Bien provided 26 billion VND (over 1 million USD) in support to the three Lao localities to help them construct welfare projects.

Heads of the Lao delegations affirmed that cooperation results in recent times have made significant contributions to the localities’ success in economic development, ensuring national defence and security, and maintaining a stable and peaceful border between the two sides.

At the talks, the delegations of Dien Bien and the Lao localities signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the next three years, focusing on strengthening friendship and building political systems; fostering economic development and investment cooperation for development; further expanding partnerships in trade and services, industry, construction, and transportation, agriculture and forestry, education – training, healthcare, culture, society, and tourism, digital transformation and communication; and fostering coordination in ensuring national defence and security, and judicial activities, and people-to-people diplomacy.

On the same morning, authorised by the President and Prime Minister of Laos, Secretary of the Party Committee and Governor of Phongsali province Khamphoi Nanasan, presented the Friendship Order to a collective of officials and people of Dien Bien province.

♐Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son, who is former Secretary of the Dien Bien provincial Party Committee; and Lo Mai Trinh, former Secretary of the Dien Bien provincial Party Committee, were presented with the Friendship Order for their contributions to Phongsali’s socio-economic development in the 2019 – 2024 period./.