
Hanoi (VNA) – The 27th annual Vietnam-Laos bordermeeting was held on December 9 in Hanoi, aiming to seek orientations for bordercooperation in 2018.
The Vietnamese delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister and headof the National Border Committee Le Hoai Trung, while the Lao side was led byForeign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith.
Both sides reviewed their coordination in border issues as well as theiraffiliation in implementing bilateral border and territory agreement in 2017.They agreed that so far this year, the political stability and security as wellas social order and safety along the shared border have been ensured.
The two sides have supported the growth of border areas in all fields,contributing to reinforcing and strengthening ties between the two countries ingeneral and among border localities in particular, they said.
They also showed their delight at the signing of two legal documents onborder cooperation – a protocol on borderline and national border markers, andan agreement on land border and border gate management regulations, whichbecame effective since September 5, 2017.
Within the meeting’s framework, a number of thematic meetings among Vietnameseand Lao localities were also held to remove obstacles facing them in theimplementation of an agreement between the two governments on dealing with freemigration and undocumented marriage along the shared border.
Vietnam and Laos agreed that in 2018, they will focus on cooperation inborder management in line with the two newly signed border agreements and otherjoint projects relating to border affairs, while completing the designing of amaster plan on developing Vietnam-Laos border gates system by 2025 with a visiontowards 2035.
They will also work together to effectively conduct the agreement on settlingissues related to free migration and undocumented marriage in border areas.
Both sides agreed to organise the 28th meeting in Laos in the fourthquarter of 2018.-VNA