The Vietnamese delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister and head of the National Border Committee Le Hoai Trung, while the Lao side was led by Foreign Minister and head of the Laos-Vietnam border committee Saleumxay Kommasith.
Both sides agreed that so far this year, political stability and security, as well as social order and safety have been ensured along the shared border.
The two agencies and local authorities have assisted the development of border areas in all spheres, contributing to the enhancement of the traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the countries in general and among border localities in particular, they said.
They highlighted the progress in joint management and development of their inland border gate system, as well as in the two border localities’ collaboration across the fields of economy, trade, culture, education, healthcare, and tourism.
The two sides lauded the positive outcomes recorded in their implementation of an agreement between the two governments on dealing with undocumented migration and marriages along the shared border. They set out specific measures to speed up their joint works in increasing the number of border markers and upgrading existing ones.
Vietnam and Laos agreed that in 2019, they will focus on border management collaboration in compliance with two legal documents on the matter. They said they will continue their implementation of the agreement on tackling undocumented migration and marriage to ensure progress keeps to schedule.
The sides planned to organize a conference before the end of the second quarter in 2019 to review the pilot of the single-window mechanism at Lao Bao (Quang Tri, Vietnam) - Densavan (Savannakhet, Laos) border gate pair. They said they will complete the opening and upgrade of border gate pairs in line with their agreements.
Concluding the meeting, heads of the Vietnamese and Lao delegations signed the minutes, agreeing to organize the 29th meeting in Vietnam in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Source: VNA