Thanh Hoa (VNA) ꧙– The central province of Thanh Hoa and its neighbouring Lao province of Houaphanh held talks and signed cooperation documents in the Vietnamese locality on June 20.

Secretary of the Thanh Hoa Party Committee Do Trong Hung and Secretary of the Party Committee and Governor of Houaphanh Vanxay Phengxumma discussed and reached consensus on an appendix supplementing the cooperation agreement for 2021 - 2025 and a cooperation agreement for 2023. Accordingly, Thanh Hoa will help Houaphanh build the headquarters of the administration of Viengxay district and hold refresher courses for secretaries of Party cells and heads of villages in the Lao province this year. The 2023 agreement covers such aspects as politics, diplomacy, defence - security, economy, education - training, culture - society, and health care, among others. The appendix and the 2023 deal will provide a basis for the two provinces to continue strengthening their friendship and fraternity; fostering bilateral investment, trade, and business activities; and improving people’s life quality. They will also help enhance the special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Thanh Hoa and Houaphanh, as well as between Vietnam and Laos at large, according to the officials. The two provinces have recorded continuous growth in bilateral trade. Thanh Hoa enterprises’ exports to Laos were valued at 267.13 million USD in 2022 and 15.2 million USD in the first half of this year. As many as 413 Lao students are learning at universities and colleges in the Vietnamese province. Since 2022, Thanh Hoa and Houaphanh have held 106 delegation exchanges at the provincial, department, sector, and locality levels. Last year, they also successfully organised activities marking the 60th anniversary of the Vietnam - Laos diplomatic ties, 45 years since the signing of the countries’ Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, and 55 years since the signing of the first cooperation agreement between the two provinces. Under their cooperation deal, in 2022, Thanh Hoa provided over 47 billion VND (2 million USD) in aid for Houaphanh to build a number of structures, including the headquarters of the administrations of Sam Nuea and Samtay districts, an asphalt road from Cangkhong village of Houaphanh’s Viengxay district to the checkpoint of Bo village in Thanh Hoa’s Muong Lat district, a monument to the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts falling down in Laos, and a Laos - Vietnam friendship hospital./.