The working delegation of the Vietnam - Laos Border Steering Committee of Quang Tri province led by Mr. Ha Sy Dong, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, conducted a field survey to propose upgrading the auxiliary border gates of Coc (Vietnam) - A Xoc (Laos) into the main border gate.

The Coc sub-border gate in Tram village, Ba Nang commune (Dakrong district) was formed under decision No. 1268/QD-UBND dated June 14, 2007 of the People's Committee of Quang Tri province. It was officially opened on June 29, 2007 by the authorities of two provinces of Quang Tri (Vietnam) and Salavan (Laos).

The working group of the Vietnam - Laos Border Steering Committee of Quang Tri province led by Mr. Ha Sy Dong, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

This is a remote area of Dakrong district, which is connected to important traffic routes in the border area like Provincial Road 586 through Lia commune with National Highway 9 of about 60km long, the inter-commune road through the center of Ba Nang commune connecting to National Highway 14 of 16 km long, Khe Sanh-Sa Tram road connecting Khe Sanh town, Huong Hoa district to Coc border gate on the Vietnamese side of about 22 km long, Road 15B from A Xoc sub-border gate (Laos) to the center of Sa Muoi district, Salavan province of 48km long.

The opening of the Coc - A Xoc sub-border gate pair has created favorable conditions for travel, tourism, visiting relatives and exchanging goods and agricultural products of residents on both sides of the border. Since 2015, there have been over 4,000 people and over 3,000 vehicles passing through this border gate.

In the period of international economic integration, the demand for import-export and trade of goods between Vietnam - Laos on the East-West Economic Corridor is increasing. There were many times when international border gates Lao Bao and La Lay were congested, affecting trade due to the large flow of goods and vehicles passing through this border gate.

Meanwhile, the Coc - A Xoc sub-border gate pair has favorable conditions in terms of distance, roads, basic synchronous transport infrastructure and the needs of Salavan province (Laos) to connect with the Northeastern provinces of Thailand. Although the distance is very close, the locality does not have the conditions to upgrade it into a main border gate or invest synchronously in infrastructure, so this area has not yet fully exploited its potential and advantages on the East-West Economic Corridor.

Promoting border trade

In this situation, the Provincial People's Committee has sent many documents requesting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to consider the upgrade of this sub-border gate into the main border gate in the period 2020-2030, and report to the Government for consideration and approval under the provisions of Decree 112/2014/ND-CP.

In addition, the minutes of the 2022 annual meeting between the border delegations of Quang Tri and Salavan province wrote: "The two sides agreed to assign functional agencies of both sides to invest in facilities, organize surveys bilaterally, develop a project to propose to the Governments of Vietnam and Laos to upgrade the pair of auxiliary border gates Coc-A Xoc to become the main border gates".[TN1] 

Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ha Sy Dong emphasized: The activities of the Coc - A Xoc auxiliary border gate pair in recent times have promoted effectiveness in border trade, creating jobs, and connecting residents on both sides of the border, contributing to protecting national border security.

Therefore, the task is to quickly complete the legal procedures according to regulations to propose upgrading the secondary border gates to the main border gates. In particular, it is noted that upgrading infrastructure at Coc sub-border gate needs to ensure synchronization, science, feasibility, balance and efficiency; identifying viewpoints, goals, and development strategies; providing a plan to develop each field and a system of immediate and long-term solutions; close exchange and coordination with Salavan province to have planning appropriate to the actual situation of the two provinces and ensure bilateral synchronization.

Mr. Ha Sy Dong assigned relevant agencies to urgently advise on detailed planning of this border gate area as well as update it into the general planning of Quang Tri province, ensuring conditions in accordance with regulations to propose to the Governments of the two countries to upgrade this pair of sub-border gates into main border gates in 2024. At the same time, he called for capital resources from various sources to complete traffic infrastructure, as well as essential on-site infrastructure for functional forces to best serve the people and export activities of businesses through this border area.