Thua Thien - Hue boosts cooperation with Lao localities

Governor of Sekong province Leklay Sivilay (R) speaks at a working session with representatives of the Thua Thien - Hue provincial People's Committee early June (Photo: VNA)

Thua Thien - Hue (VNA) - Cooperation and exchange activities across various fields between the central province of Thua Thien - Hue, and Sekong and Salavan provinces of Laos are gradually recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to further strengthening the special friendship relationship between Vietnam and Laos.

According to Director of the Department of External Affairs of Thua Thien - Hue province Tran Cong Phu, Thua Thien - Hue and the two provinces of Laos have recorded significant cooperation in healthcare and education-training.

Since 2002, Thua Thien - Hue has trained nearly 1,250 Lao students from the provinces of Attapeu, Champasak, Khammoun, Savannakhet, Sekong and Vientiane,  including more than 150 from Sekong, in the Vietnamese language and many majors at university and college levels. 

In the past two years, authorities in Thua Thien - Hue have also welcomed more than 500 Lao students to educational institutions in the province.

Phu said that in 2022, Thua Thien - Hue began coordinating with the two Lao localities to organise training courses for grassroots officials on state management.

The Hue Central Hospital has also helped train medical workers and doctors for Salavan and Sekong, as well as provided medical examination and treatment services for the people of the Lao localities.

During a working visit to Thua Thien - Hue in early June, Governor of Sekong province Leklay Sivilay expressed his wish that Sekong and Thua Thien - Hue will enhance cooperation in the fields of education, healthcare, border trade, infrastructure development and energy.

According to the Department of External Affairs of Thua Thien - Hue, in response to the Vietnam - Laos Year of Solidarity and Friendship 2022, a high-ranking delegation of Thua Thien - Hue will visit and sign cooperation agreements with the Laos central and southern provinces of Salavan, Sekong, Savannakhet and Champasak.

Sharing more than 80km of border with Salavan and Sekong provinces, the border guard force of Thua Thien - Hue has closely coordinated with counterpart forces in the Lao localities in exchanging information, ensuring security and order, and fighting crime along the border.

According to Colonel Nguyen Xuan Hoa, Commander of the Border Guard Command of Thua Thien - Hue, in the past five years, the border guard force of Thua Thien -Hue has coordinated with border guard commands in Lao localities to organize dozens of bilateral patrols and maintain a good relationship, contributing to further tightening the solidarity between officers, soldiers, local authorities and people of the two countries.

The Border Guard Command of Thua Thien - Hue also provided material support and medical supplies for border guards and people of Laos when they were facing difficulties  due to the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters./.