Illustrative Image (Source :VNS/VNA)Vientiane (VNA) – High-ranking officers from the border guard forces of Vietnam and Laos held their 12 th annual talks in Vientiane, Laos, on November 10 to seek promoted coordination to protect shared border areas.
The Vietnamese delegation was led by Major General Hoang Xuan Chien , Deputy Commander and Chief of the Staff of the High Command of Border Guard, while the Laos delegation was headed by Colonel Syphane Phuththavong, Director of Laos’ Border Guard Force under the General Staff of the Lao People’s Army.
The two sides agreed that the special solidarity, friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States, armies and peoples have been growing.
The border guard forces have been supporting each other in implementing assigned political tasks and firmly protecting sovereignty and border security in the respective countries, contributing to strengthening Vietnam-Laos solidarity and friendship.
The officers spoke highly of the implementation of the contents agreed during their 11 th annual talks on October 30, 2014 in Vietnam’s central Da Nang city, which focused on measures to ensure security, political stability and social order, as well as on the fight against crimes, especially drug crime, smuggling, trade fraud in border areas, and in the issue of preventing illegal immigration.
All the 10 provinces along the Vietnam-Laos border line have so far completed the planting of boundary markers, and built 792 out of 834 border markers and 113 out of 168 land marking stakes.
The two sides plan to organise a signing ceremony of protocol on the borderline and national border markers, and an agreement on Vietnam-Laos border and border gate management regulations in Hanoi in this December.
They agreed to maintain closer connections to effectively combat crimes, especially those harmful to national security of the respective country, drug crime and cross-border trafficking.
Officers also underlined the necessity to intensify communications campaigns to raise public awareness of the significance of the project on upgrading Vietnam-Laos border markers, and foster joint patrols to better manage the shared borderline.
They will also work closely to implement the Governments’ agreement on resolving issues concerning free migration and unlicensed marriages in border areas.
At the end of the talks, Major General Hoang Xuan Chien and Colonel Syphane Phuththavong signed a memorandum of understanding on future cooperation to safeguard the two countries’ borderline.
The Vietnamese officers’ working visit to Laos is from November 9-11.-VNA
