HCMC, Vientiane strengthen cooperation

Secretary of HCMC Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen and the municipal high-ranking delegation had a meeting with Mr. Anouphap Tounalom, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Council of Vientiane on May 26, continuing the delegation's official visit to Laos.
Attending the visit was Major General Nguyen Truong Thang, Commander of Military Region 7; Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Nam, Commander of the HCMC High Command; Vice Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee Ngo Minh Chau and representatives of departments of the city.
At the meeting, Secretary Nguyen Van Nen affirmed that the Vietnam-Lao relationship has been more and more developed. He hoped that HCMC and Vientiane would have solutions to materialize the agreement and MoU between the two sides soon through activities promoting trade and investment, education and training, and exchanges of information and the sharing of experiences.
The two localities will continue to train young people on history and special friendships between the two Parties, States, and peoples of the two nations. HCMC will create favorable conditions for Vientiane’s government officials and employees to study and share experiences in education, high-tech agriculture, finance, tax, administrative reform, e-government building, and digital transformation.
Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Council of Vientiane Anouphap Tounalom highly appreciated the results of the cooperation between the two cities and proposed special mechanisms for priority projects, such as the construction of a trade and tourism center, developing a model of beef cattle farm, improving the system of sources of government revenues with financial aid from HCMC.
The Secretary of the HCMC Party Committee basically agreed with the proposals and invited Mr. Anouphap Tounalom and his spouse, Vientiane’s leaders to pay a visit to HCMC to celebrate the Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year 2022.
At the meeting, Vice Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee Ngo Minh Chau gave 10 sets of equipment serving virtual meetings to Vientiane government, and representatives of Hoa Sen (Lotus) University handed over 40 scholarships to Laos’ Ministry of Education and Sports.
On the same day, the HCMC officials also visited the Vientiane-Ho Chi Minh City Friendship High School and had a talk with Laotian students who studied in HCMC.
Speaking at the event, Vice Chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee Ngo Minh Chau said that more than 600 Laotian students have studied at 26 universities and colleges in the city over the past years.
Under the “Vietnamese families, and Laotian and Cambodian students who are studying in HCMC” program, 34 Vietnamese families have adopted 51 Laotian and Cambodian students to support them during their time studying and living in HCMC in 2022.
In the evening of the same day, the HCMC delegation had meetings with Party General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, National Assembly Chairman Saysomphone Phomvihane, Prime Minister Phankham Viphavan, and President of the Lao Front for National Construction Central Committee Sinlavong Khoutphaythoun.

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