Comrade Vu Hai Ha - Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee delivered the opening speech at the conference.

Attending the conference were: 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 National Assembly Delegation of Nghe An province; members of the Supervisory Delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee; representatives of the National Border Committee, the General Staff of the Vietnam Border Guard; National Assembly deputies and representatives of the leaders of 10 provinces sharing a border with Laos, including Dien Bien, Son La, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien - Hue, Quang Nam and Kon Tum. In his opening speech at the conference, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Vu Hai Ha stated that Vietnam and Laos are two neighboring countries with a long history of solidarity, fighting together against foreign invaders for national independence. The two countries have a strategic position and importance for each other's security and development with a common border of nearly 2,340 km long, passing through 10 provinces of Vietnam and 10 provinces of Laos. The starting point of the border is the Vietnam - Laos - China border junction, and the ending point is the Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia border junction.

In 2016, the two governments signed two important legal documents: the Protocol on border lines and border markers between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the Agreement on Border Management Regulations and Land Border Gate between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Comrade Vu Hai Ha - Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee affirmed that the international treaties on territorial borders between Vietnam and Laos have met the practical needs of border relations between the two countries, promoting high efficiency in border management and boundary markers in the new situation. However, the implementation of the above legal documents cannot avoid shortcomings and has not completely resolved newly arising issues. In the context and practical situation of border work in recent times, with a joint effort to contribute to protecting the achievements of border demarcation and marker planting, the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee organized a monitoring conference on "Implementation of international treaties on territorial borders between Vietnam and Laos" to assess the achievements and shortcomings and limitations in the implementation of international treaties on territorial borders between Vietnam and Laos, thereby proposing solutions and recommendations to improve the effectiveness of border and marker management, contributing to building a peaceful, friendly, cooperative and long-term development border between the two countries.

 
Delegates attending the thematic monitoring conference "Implementation of international treaties on territorial borders between Vietnam and Laos"”

Representing Son La province, comrade Nguyen Van Chien - Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs spoke at the conference, reporting on the achievements and some difficulties and obstacles of Son La province in implementing international treaties on land borders between Vietnam and Laos, thereby making recommendations to the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee:

1. Propose that the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee discuss and encourage Laos to invest in infrastructure to upgrade the main Pa Hang border gate (Laos) into an international border gate.

2. Propose that the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee review, report and propose to the Standing Committee The National Assembly approved the policy to resolve Son La province's difficulties in using local budget sources to support neighboring Lao provinces.

3. Propose that the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee discuss with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant Ministries and Branches to soon reach an agreement with the Lao side to issue the exit and entry document forms stipulated in Clause 1 - Article 23 of the Agreement on border management regulations and border gates between Vietnam and Laos; at the same time, issue related detailed regulations and instructions to both ensure the effectiveness of state management and create favorable conditions for border residents of the two countries to visit relatives, travel, trade, etc.

At the conference, delegates listened to representatives of the National Border Committee, the General Staff of the Vietnam Border Guard, and representatives of leaders of localities sharing borders with Laos report on the implementation of international treaties on land borders between Vietnam and Laos.

The delegates agreed that since the two legal documents on the border officially came into effect, the two sides have organized border management and protection based on the results of the work of increasing and renovating the Vietnam-Laos border markers. The border situation has been basically maintained and ensured stability. The functional forces of the two countries regularly exchange, grasp information, and coordinate to resolve border issues quickly, promptly and accurately. The mechanism of the Border Delegation between the two countries has been effectively promoted.

In addition to positive results, the implementation of international treaties on the territorial border between Vietnam and Laos also has difficulties and limitations such as: some regulations have not been discussed and coordinated by the authorities of the two sides, such as the agreement on the type of documents that border residents of the two sides are allowed to use to enter and exit the opposite border area; the repair and reinforcement of embankments to protect border markers and ridges still face financial difficulties; the management and development of border gates are still limited due to some pairs of border gates lacking compatibility in type and synchronization, connectivity in infrastructure, etc.

Comrade Don Tuan Phong - Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee delivered a concluding speech at the conference.

Concluding the conference, Comrade Don Tuan Phong - Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee emphasized that the positive results in implementing international treaties on territorial borders between Vietnam and Laos are the main factors contributing to building a peaceful, stable, cooperative and developed border. Acknowledging the recommendations of ministries, branches and localities raised at the conference, the Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee also stated that after the conference, the Foreign Affairs Committee will develop a monitoring report on this content to report to the National Assembly Standing Committee, the National Assembly and send it to the Government.

Le Huy Hoang