Cooperation between Gia Lai Province and the Southern Provinces of Laos: Hallmarks of Cooperation in the 2021 - 2025 Period and Orientation toward 2030

Hallmarks of Cooperation through Key Agreements

In line with the policy of promoting Viet Nam–Laos cooperation and strengthening special solidarity and comprehensive partnership, the People’s Committee of Binh Dinh Province (formerly) and the authorities of the four southern Lao provinces signed Memoranda of Understanding for the 2021 - 2025 period in March 2023. The People’s Committee of Gia Lai Province (former) signed Memoranda of Understanding with Champasak Province in March 2022 and with Attapeu Province for the 2025 - 2030 period in April 2025.

These frameworks identified priority areas including high-level delegation exchanges; external relations; security and defence; investment; agriculture; education and training; healthcare; industry and trade; cultural and tourism exchanges; and cooperation in science and technology and information and communications. Following their signing, the departments and agencies of both sides actively implemented the agreed commitments, generating tangible and substantive outcomes.

The Hospital Friendship Project in Vang Tat Village, Sanxay District, Attapeu Province, funded by Binh Dinh Province (formerly).

Education and Training as a Priority Area

During the 2021 - 2025 period, Binh Dinh Province (formerly) provided 300 full scholarships for students from the four southern Lao provinces, averaging 60 scholarships per year and covering undergraduate, master’s, vocational, and medical training, including one year of Vietnamese language study. Gia Lai Province (former) also granted five scholarships annually to students from Champasak Province. Educational institutions and relevant agencies organized cultural and sports exchanges for the Laotain students, strengthening friendship and solidarity between the younger generations of the two countries.

Cooperation in other fields also achieved many encouraging results. The province dispatched working delegations to provide training in new medical technologies; sent experts to guide cultivation, care and protection of crops; organized training courses on livestock and poultry breeding techniques and disease prevention for officials from the Southern provinces of Laos; maintained and expanded investment projects in Laos, mainly in agriculture, forestry and commercial infrastructure development, contributing to job creation and restructuring of local production; implemented various trade connectivity and promotion activities, including the maintenance of a Viet Nam-Laos e-commerce website; organized exchanges of experience in standards, metrology, quality and intellectual property; welcomed tourism survey delegations; upgraded websites for the four Southern Lao provinces; and effectively carried out external relations activities, delegation exchanges and support for immigration procedures for Lao students.

Sharing and Support in Times of Difficulty - A Testament to Enduring Solidarity

During the COVID-19 pandemic, solidarity between the province and Lao localities was further reinforced. Binh Dinh Province and Gia Lai Province (former) each provided VND 800 million, along with medical supplies and essential goods, to support the four southern Lao provinces. Annually, the Provincial Military Command organizes medical missions, provides medicines and housing support for disadvantaged families, and supports the military commands of Champasak and Attapeu provinces. Notably, Binh Dinh Province (formerly) allocated VND 60 billion to support the construction of friendship works in education, healthcare, culture, and external relations in the four southern Lao provinces, serving as a vivid symbol of close cooperation.

Consolidating the Foundation and Deepening Practical Cooperation

In the time ahead, Gia Lai Province will continue to step up information dissemination and public communication on the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Viet Nam and Laos, as well as the relationship between the Province and the four southern provinces of Laos, especially on important occasions in the diplomatic relations between the two countries. These efforts aim to preserve and further spread the close-knit, faithful, and enduring friendship and neighborly ties between the two Parties, the two States, and the peoples of Viet Nam and Laos, which have been carefully nurtured by generations of leaders of both countries.

Gia Lai Province focuses on consolidating and strengthening comprehensive, substantive, and effective cooperation with the four southern provinces of Laos. Priority is given to reviewing and assessing cooperation results in the 2021–2025 period and to signing cooperation agreements for the 2026 - 2030 period, ensuring continuity and further development of bilateral cooperative relations. Key areas of cooperation include maintaining high-level delegation exchanges; continuing to provide scholarships for students from the southern provinces of Laos to study in the Province; sustaining exchanges and experience-sharing in specialized fields such as healthcare, agriculture, industry and trade, science and technology, and justice; promoting cooperation activities and investment and trade promotion; organizing cultural, sports, and youth exchange activities; strengthening linkages and cooperation in tourism development; promoting cooperation in information and press communications; enhancing collaboration in foreign affairs; and considering support for the southern provinces of Laos in the construction of a friendship project or the further completion of related components of a friendship project previously supported by Binh Dinh Province.

Building upon the tradition of special solidarity and mutual support between Viet Nam and Laos, Gia Lai Province will continue to strengthen comprehensive and friendly cooperation with the southern Lao provinces, thereby contributing to the effectiveness, sustainability, and long-term development of Viet Nam - Laos relations.