Vietnamese border localities strengthen ties with China’s Yunnan province

Addressing the event, Giang A Tinh, Vice Chairman of the Lai Chau provincial People’s Committee and head of the province’s joint working sub-group, said the annual activity aims to enhance the friendship and cooperation between the four Vietnamese border localities and Yunnan province.

This meeting offers a good chance for both sides to review their past collaboration and discuss orientations for future ties, he said.

According to Pham Sao Mai, Assistant to the Foreign Minister and Director-General of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Northeast Asian Affairs, the outcomes of the meeting will positively contribute to fostering the relations between the two countries as well as the cooperation, development and prosperity of the localities.

Na Jie, deputy head of the Yunnan provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee, said Yunnan attaches great importance to its cooperation and exchange with the four northern border provinces of Vietnam. Through their collaboration, Yunnan hopes to contribute to boosting the economic development in Vietnam’s northwestern localities as well as investment and trade liberalisation in the region.

In the coming time, the two sides will continue to accelerate the building of the Hekou-Lao Cai cross-border economic cooperation zone, promote transport connectivity in the region, support the expansion of trade exchanges, and increase the presence of high-quality Vietnamese goods in Yunnan, he said.

At the event, the two sides agreed to promote trade and investment through the organisation of border trade fairs, investment promotion conferences and business matching events, while building border gate infrastructure and implementing measures to increase flows of people crossing border gates.

The two sides will coordinate closely in managing border areas and safeguarding security and order in these areas, as well as boost collaboration in such fields as transport, cross-border labour and marriage management, agro-forestry, tourism, culture, education and health, among others.

At the end of the meeting, leaders of the four Vietnamese localities and Yunnan province signed a memorandum of understanding on the meeting and several documents on bilateral cooperation.

The two sides agreed that the eight meeting of the joint working group will be held in Yunnan province in 2020.