Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City and the Lao capital city of Vientiane have agreed to foster and expand their cooperation in the time ahead and approve cooperation orientations for the 2017-2020 period.

Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Tat Thanh Cang congratulated Lao officials and dignitaries on New Year festival of Laos (Illustrative image)

The agreement was reached at the talks in Vientiane on July 29 between a high-ranking delegation of Vientiane and a high-ranking delegation of Ho Chi Minh City led by permanent Vice Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Tat Thanh Cang.

The two sides agreed to increase the exchange of high-level delegations, speeding up the implementation of a project to raise beeves in Vientiane, considering the provision of aid to buy equipment for a project on improving the budget collection system of Vientiane’s Finance Department and Tax Department.

They also vowed to consider the possibility of constructing their trade and tourism centres in Ho Chi Minh City and Vientiane.

Ho Chi Minh City pledged to help Vientiane organise agricultural, trade and tourism promotion programmes in the Vietnamese city, provide 17 scholarships for Lao students and postgraduates, and assist Vientiane in hosting the Laos Tourism Year 2018 and a tourism conference of Mekong River Sub-region cities.

Earlier on the same day, the Ho Chi Minh City delegation was received by permanent member of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Phankham Viphavan and Secretary of the Party Committee and Mayor of Vientiane Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune.

At these meetings, the Lao leaders spoke highly of cooperation between Ho Chi Minh City and Vientiane. They also asked the two cities to create favourable conditions fort their businesses in order to deepen Laos-Vietnam relations.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Days in Vientiane kick off

“Ho Chi Minh City’s Days in Vientiane” kicked off in the capital city of Laos on July 29.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Sinlavong Khoutphaythoune, Secretary of the Party Committee and Mayor of Vientiane, said that the event takes place at a time when the two countries are celebrating the 55th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties and 40 years since the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.

It will help tighten the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the Parties, States and people of Laos and Vietnam in general, and between Ho Chi Minh City and Vientiane in particular.

In recent years, Ho Chi Minh City have supported Vientiane in building two friendship high schools, upgrading one secondary school, building a financial information centre and training human resources, he said.

In the time to come, the two cities will intensify collaboration within the framework of their twinning city agreement and cooperation minutes, while increasing delegation exchanges and intensifying cooperation in economy, trade, culture and tourism, he added.

Permanent Vice Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tat Thanh Cang affirmed that the city always pays attention to its twinning relations with Vientiane and other Lao localities.

The “Ho Chi Minh City’s Days in Vientiane” event is a manifestation for the city’s determination to develop its partnership with Vientiane, thus contributing to nurturing Vietnam-Laos special relations, Cang stressed.

Within the framework of the event, the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Centre organised a conference to promote the city’s investment, trade and tourism in Vientiane.

Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Huynh Cach Mang said that the conference offered a chance for Vietnamese and Lao enterprises to seek cooperation opportunities, establish long-term and effective relations, and increase the number of investment projects.

He suggested the two sides’ departments, agencies and units to maintain regular coordination mechanisms, promptly provide information on policies, legal regulations and projects calling for investments.

According to him, Ho Chi Minh City currently has 36 enterprises investing in Laos with a total capital of 345 million USD. Numerous trade fairs and investment promotion conferences have been held in recent years, helping connect the two countries’ businesses and provide useful information for them.

Deputy Mayor of Vientiane Keophilavan Aphaylath spoke highly of contributions of investment projects by Vietnamese businesses, including those from Ho Chi Minh City, to the Lao capital’s development.

He stressed that the conference was to help Vietnamese enterprises understand more about Vientiane’s preferential policies related to trade, investment and tourism.

At the conference, five memoranda of understanding on cooperation between the two sides were signed, including one memorandum between the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism and Vientiane’s Department of Information, Culture and Tourism.

VNA