Representatives of the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and Laos; leaders of Son La and Houaphanh provinces cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Long Sap-Pa Hang international border gate.

On the morning of November 19, the People's Committee of Son La province coordinated with the authorities of Houaphanh province, Lao People's Democratic Republic to organize the opening ceremony of the Long Sap (Moc Chau district, Son La province) - Pa Hang (Sop Bao district, Houaphanh province) international border gate pair.

The delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attending the opening ceremony was led by Comrade Nguyen Minh Vu, Alternate Member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, along with representatives of units under the Ministry: National Border Committee, Ministry Office.

On the Lao side, Lao Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Phoxay Khaykhamphithoune and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Lao People's Democratic Republic to Vietnam Khamphao Ernthavanh attended the opening ceremony.

Son La borders two provinces of Houaphanh and Luang Prabang of Laos with 274.065km of border. The province currently has 4 border gates with Houaphanh province (Long Sap, Chieng Khuong, Nam Lanh, Na Cai) ensuring economic connectivity across the border area between the two countries.

Before 2024, due to the lack of an international border gate, Son La has not been able to fully exploit the province's great potential and advantages, especially the road tourism route from Son La-Laos to Thailand and ASEAN countries.

The Long Sap-Pa Hang border gate pair is located in the central position connecting the northern provinces of Vietnam with the northern provinces of Laos, about 200km from the capital Hanoi of Vietnam, 180-400km from the center of the northern provinces of Laos, especially convenient in connecting Moc Chau National Tourist Area, Son La province, Vietnam - the world's leading natural destination with tourist areas such as Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos or the resistance base of Sam Neua, Xieng Khuang and other places of the northern provinces of Laos.

Grasping this need and advantage, recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has closely coordinated with Son La province and relevant ministries and branches to submit to the Government for permission to upgrade Long Sap border gate from a main border gate to an international border gate. On December 22, 2020, the Government issued Resolution No. 182/NQ-CP on upgrading Long Sap main border gate to an international border gate.

Along with that, through the efforts to promote foreign relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as Son La province with relevant agencies and localities of the neighboring country, on February 15, 2024, the Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic also decided to upgrade Pa-hang border gate, Houaphanh province to an international border gate.

Comrade Nguyen Minh Vu, alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke at the opening ceremony of Long Sap-Pa Hang international border gate.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, comrade Nguyen Minh Vu, alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs congratulated the important event of the two provinces of Son La and Houaphanh, assessing this as a vivid manifestation of the traditional friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive strategic cooperation, demonstrating the consensus and mutual trust between the leaders and people of Vietnam and Laos.

The Deputy Minister believes that, along with the Government's approval of the Son La province planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, the announcement of the opening of Long Sap international border gate will open up many new opportunities for the province, creating momentum for Son La to become a strong growth pole of the Northwest region.

The Deputy Minister suggested that Son La and Houaphanh provinces pay attention to investing in building infrastructure at the Long Sap-Pa Hang border gate pair to maximize the advantages of this pair of border gates in economic cooperation, trade investment and tourism between the two countries.

Comrade Vu Ngoc Ly, Chief of Office of the National Border Committee, Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the Government's Resolution on upgrading Long Sap international border gate.

The opening of the Long Sap-Pa Hang international border gate pair, the first and only international border gate of Son La province to date, brings new opportunities and development momentum to the province.

The upgrading of this pair of border gates will significantly contribute to facilitating exchanges and cooperation between the two provinces of Son La and Houaphanh, thereby improving the lives and strengthening solidarity among people in the border areas.

The Long Sap-Pa-Hang international border gate pair will also contribute to promoting the development of the border gate system along the entire border between the two countries, while opening up new opportunities for cooperation in economics, trade, investment and tourism between the northwestern provinces of Vietnam and the northeastern provinces of Laos.

At the same time, the official operation of this pair of border gates also contributes to attracting investors from both countries and internationally to the region, creating a premise for completing the planning of the border gate system between Vietnam and Laos.

According to: dangcongsan.org.vn