A delegation from the Aquitaine region, France, led by Beatrice Veyssy, Vice President of the regional council, has paid a working visit to northern mountainous Lao Cai province as part of activities celebrating 10 years of the two sides’ cooperation establishment.

The delegation was received on November 14 by Nguyen Huu Van, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, who highly valued the effective cooperation and support from the Aquitaine region for Lao Cai over the past ten years.

Cooperative projects in the fields of planning, tourism, agriculture and education have achieved remarkable results appreciated by the Vietnamese Government.

Aquitaine has provided Lao Cai with consultancy on the making of a master plan to develop the province’s tourism sector in a sustainable manner with high quality. It helped Lao Cai study and choose fruit trees suitable for the province’s climate and soil, with a pilot model of grape growing.

The region has also sent experts to Lao Cai to help improve local official’s capacity in urban planning, fruit tree cultivation, wine production, and French and tourism skills.

Official development assistant (ODA) from the French Development Agency plays the most important role in helping the northern mountainous province maintain sustainable socio-economic development growth.

Beatrice Veyssy said that the two sides will continue cooperating to complete the urban planning for Sa Pa tourism site, as well as boost eco-tourism services in the province’s Hoang Lien National Park .

The Aquitaine region will help promote Lao Cai’s tourism and bring more French investors to the province.

The delegation will tour Lao Cai city, and two districts of Sa Pa and Bac Ha from Nov. 15-17.-VNA