Nghe An Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy visits and works in Bolikhamxay province, Lao PDR

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation as Head of the Nghe An Provincial Working Group.

The delegation included members of the Provincial Party Standing Committee: Le Duc Cuong - Head of the Provincial Party Organization Committee, Nguyen Thi Thu Huong - Head of the Provincial Party Propaganda Committee; members of the Provincial Party Executive Committee: Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Nguyen Dinh Hung - Chief of the Provincial Party Office, Pham Hong Quang - Director of the Department of Planning and Investment, Trinh Thanh Hai - Director of the Department of Finance, Colonel Nguyen Cong Luc - Commander of the Provincial Border Guard Command. Also attending were comrade Tran Khanh Thuc - Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the Department of Tourism.

Comrade Kong-keo Xay-song-kham - Member of the Central Executive Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Secretary, Governor of Bolikhamxay province and provincial leaders received the delegation.

Bolikhamxay Province is located in Central Laos, with an area of ​​15,977.7 km2; to the north it borders 3 provinces: Xieng Khouang, Vientiane, Xay Som Bun and the capital Vientiane; to the south it borders Khammouane Province; to the west it borders 3 provinces of the Kingdom of Thailand: Nakhon Phanom, Bung Can and Nong Khai; to the east it borders 2 provinces: Nghe An and Ha Tinh. Bolikhamxay Province has a 177.9 km long border adjacent to Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Con Cuong, and Tuong Duong districts of Nghe An Province.

Over the past years, under the leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the Party Committee, government and people of Lao ethnic groups in Bolikhamxay province have united, overcome many difficulties and challenges, and achieved many extremely important achievements in the fields of politics, economy, society, national defense, security and foreign affairs, making important contributions to the cause of building and protecting the country of Laos: Peace - Independence - Democracy - Unity - Prosperity.

In 2022, the average GRDP growth rate of Bolikhamxay will reach 5.1%; per capita income will reach 24 million Kip, equivalent to 1,758 USD/person/year. Agriculture accounts for 36.18%, industry and construction account for 39.27%, and services account for 24.55% of the province's economy.

Pleased to visit Bolikhamxay province, on behalf of the Party Committee, government and people of Nghe An province, Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy respectfully sent his best wishes to comrade Kong-keo Xay-song-kham and the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, Government Committee, Lao Front Committee for National Construction, and all Lao ethnic people of Bolikhamxay province; expressed his gratitude for the thoughtful and warm welcome that comrade Kong-keo Xay-song-kham and the provincial leaders gave to the Delegation.

On the basis of the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, the Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee emphasized that the two provinces have carried out many effective cooperation activities in all fields, especially since the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation.

Accordingly, the two provinces have effectively implemented the management and protection of border lines and landmarks, contributing to maintaining a peaceful, friendly, cooperative and mutually developing border between the two countries.

The two sides have strengthened their direction to promote the role and relationship of the two pairs of twinned villages and two pairs of twinned border posts, thereby contributing to further consolidating the special solidarity and friendship between the people and border protection forces of the two sides, together building a peaceful, friendly, cooperative and developing Vietnam-Laos border.

In particular, together with the provincial level, districts of the two border provinces regularly visit and exchange information, contributing to ensuring stability and mutual development in the border area.

Leaders of the Provincial Party Committee and People's Committee of Nghe An province at the meeting with leaders of Bolikhamxay province. Photo: Thanh Duy

The two provinces have actively implemented the Project "Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Lao PDR on resolving the issue of spontaneous migration and unregistered marriages in the border areas of the two countries".

To date, Nghe An province has completed the organization of granting Vietnamese nationality to 2 Lao people approved under the Agreement. Bolikhamxay province has implemented the naturalization procedures in 2 phases with 604 citizens of Nghe An province. Currently, there are 3,651 cases that need to complete the procedures to announce naturalization.

Nghe An continues to maintain and promote human resource training support for Bolikhamxay province. In the 2022-2023 school year, Nghe An province has granted training scholarships to a total of 38 cadres, students and pupils of Bolikhamxay province.

Along with that, the Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee expressed his appreciation for the close relationship when the two provinces shared and encouraged each other very promptly, especially during the recent Covid-19 pandemic; at the same time, he highly appreciated the Party Committee and government of Bolikhamxay province for creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese people in general, including Nghe An people, to live and do business in the province.

Informing the leaders of Bo Ly Kham Xay province about the outstanding results in socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security of the province in 2022 and the first 6 months of 2023 and on the basis of the very good cooperative relationship between the two localities, Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee Thai Thanh Quy hoped that in the coming time, the two provinces will continue to support and expand cooperation for mutual development.

In particular, the head of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee suggested that the leaders of the two provinces continue to regularly consult with the Governments of the two countries to soon implement the project to build the Vientiane - Pak Xan (Bo Ly Kham Xay) - Thanh Thuy Border Gate (Nghe An) - Hanoi expressway. When invested, completed and put into use, both Nghe An and Bo Ly Kham Xay will certainly have the conditions to develop their economies very quickly. This is also a project that is not only significant in terms of economy and transportation, but also a symbol of the relationship between Vietnam and Laos, connecting the two capitals by a road.

Because this is a project that requires a large amount of investment capital, the Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee suggested that the leaders of the two provinces should persistently seek solutions to promote the implementation of the route. Nghe An is always ready to cooperate with Bo Ly Kham Xay to promote this important project.

Hoping that the Secretary, Governor and senior leaders of Bolikhamxay province will pay special attention to this project, the Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee said that during the working program in the Lao PDR, the delegation will meet with leaders of the Lao Party and State and report and propose this very important content.

Comrade Kong-keo Xay-song-kham - Member of the Central Executive Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Secretary and Governor of Bolikhamxay province expressed his pleasure to welcome Comrade Thai Thanh Quy and the high-ranking delegation of the province to visit; this event opens a new era of cooperation between the two provinces; and congratulated Nghe An on its impressive socio-economic achievements in recent years.

Comrade Kong-keo Xay-song-kham informed the delegation about the history of formation, geographical location, socio-economic development situation, viewpoints and strategic development orientations of the province.

In particular, with its geostrategic location on the East-West economic corridor connecting Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, Bolikhamxay province is implementing a development strategy as an economic gateway, a center for energy production, logistics and sustainable environmental protection.

Expressing deep gratitude to the leaders of Nghe An province for their valuable support and assistance to the province in the past time, the Secretary and Governor of Bolikhamxay province said that the cooperation between the two localities is still very large and hoped that the cooperative relationship between the two provinces will continue to develop to new heights, contributing to strengthening the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos to further blossom and bear fruit.

Regarding the Vientiane - Pak Xan (Bo Ly Kham Xay) - Thanh Thuy Border Gate (Nghe An) - Hanoi expressway construction project, the Secretary and Governor of Bo Ly Kham Xay province affirmed that this is an important project, the Lao Government and Ministry of Transport and Public Works are appraising and attracting foreign capital for investment; at the same time, there are also Lao enterprises wishing to invest in the project under the BOT form; at the same time, Bo Ly Kham Xay province also said that it is currently trying to complete the provincial road connecting to Nam On - Thanh Thuy border gate as soon as possible.

Nghe An Provincial Party Secretary Thai Thanh Quy thanked the sentiments of Secretary Kong-keo Xay-song-kham, Provincial Governor and leaders of Bolikhamxay province for the working delegation and expressed his high agreement to further strengthen closer cooperation between the two provinces.

Comrade Thai Thanh Quy respectfully invited Comrade Kong-keo Xay-song-kham to chair the Delegation of Bo Ly Kham Xay province to visit, work, and attend the High-level Talks to sign the Memorandum of Cooperation for the period 2023-2025 between the two provinces, expected to be held in the third quarter of 2023 in Vinh city, Nghe An; thereby continuing to discuss and deepen cooperation programs and contents to fully promote the potential of the two localities.