Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on March 14 visited Laos ’ northern province of Houaphan.
At a meeting with Houaphan key leaders, Dung spoke highly of the
friendship and cooperative ties between the province and Vietnamese
localities, especially Son La, Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces, which
border Houaphan.
Dung said he hoped the special
ties, which cover various fields such as security, defence, economics,
culture, education and health, will continue developing in the coming
time.
Vietnam will pay due attention to
implementing an agreement inked by the two Governments on the 2020
Vietnam-Laos cooperation strategy in Houaphan and Xieng Khouang, added
Dung.
Khamhung Huongvongsi, Houaphan’s Party
Secretary and Governor, expressed his gratitude for the support and
assistance the Party, Government and people of Vietnam have provided
to the province.
He briefed Dung on his province’s
potential and a number of important projects to be carried out in the
coming time, and pledged to try his best to contribute to strengthening
the special friendship between the two countries.
On behalf of the Vietnamese Government, Dung presented 1 million USD to help the province build a foreign language centre.
Vietnamese credit institutions and the association of Vietnamese
investors in Laos also offered 300,000 USD to the province.
The same day, PM Dung and his Lao counterpart Thongsing Thammavong
attended a ceremony to commence construction on an international airport
in Houaphan, which is funded by Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group.
This is the second airport in Laos the group has invested in.
On the occasion, Dung
paid homage to a monument in memory of former President Kaysone
Phomvihane, and visited Pha Den Cave. -VNA