On the afternoon of September 15, the delegation of the Embassy of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in Viet Nam led by Mr. Sengphet Houngboungnuang, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Lao PDR in Viet Nam, greeted to the leaders of Nghe An province on the occasion of ending his term in Viet Nam.

Receiving the delegation were Mr. Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee (PPC); leaders of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Provincial Police Departmnet, Provincial Military Command, and Provincial Border Guard Command.

The PPC Chairman Nguyen Duc Trung presents flowers to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Lao PDR in Viet Nam

Thanking the warm and friendly welcome of the leaders of Nghe An province, Mr. Sengphet Houngboungnuang, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Lao PDR in Viet Nam expressed his pleasure in 4-year term of office in Viet Nam that he witnessed the skillful leadership of the Communist Party and the Government of Viet Nam, bringing Viet Nam into a country with rapid economic development, ensuring security and defense, expanding foreign affairs, and maintaining Vietnam's position and role are increasingly enhanced.

Regarding the cooperative relationship of localities between Laos and Viet Nam, especially between Nghe An province and Lao provinces, they always stand side by side, helping both materially and spiritually. During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nghe An province shared the pandemic prevention experiences, facilities, and medical equipment to help and join hands to respond to the pandemic with the Lao provinces.  Besides, Lao provinces that share a border with Nghe An always receive help and support in the security and defense, especially close coordination in crime prevention and control on both sides of the border.

On this occasion, on behalf of the Party, State and People of Laos, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Lao PDR in Viet Nam expressed his deep gratitude to the Party, State and People of Viet Nam in general as well as the Party, the Government, and people of Nghe An province in particular have always stood side by side with the Laos. Mr. Sengphet Houngboungnuang wishes the leaders of Nghe An province, especially the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, good health and happiness, and continue to direct the province and people of Nghe An to successfully execute the goals  set by the 13th Party Congress Resolution, contributing to bring Viet Nam into a developed, high-income country.

The PPC Chairman Nguyen Duc Trung affirms that in recent times, the relationship between Nghe An and Lao localities has been increasingly strengthened, expanded and has achieved outstanding results.

On behalf of the provincial leaders, Chairman of the PPC Nguyen Duc Trung thanked the Ambassador for his assessments on Viet Nam achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party of Viet Nam. He reviewed some outstanding features in the cooperative relationship between Nghe An province and neighboring provinces of Laos. He also emphasized that the Viet Nam achievements have had important contributions from the Party and People of Laos in general and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in particular in promoting the bilateral cooperation between Viet Nam and Laos, Laos and Viet Nam and between localities of the two countries.

Trade relations between Nghe An and localities in Laos are developing well. In 2022, the total import-export turnover between Nghe An and Laos has reached 61.5 million USD; The first 6 months of 2023 are estimated to reach 67,635 million USD. In recent years, Nghe An has supported students from localities in Laos to study at training in Nghe An facilities. In 2022 alone, Nghe An province has received and organized training for 222 students from localities in Laos.

The Chairman also reported to the delegation some fundamental contents about the
Socio-economic situation of Nghe An. In the context of many difficulties, Nghe An province still maintains quite positive and stable results. Nghe An's economic scale ranks 10th out of 63 provinces and cities. GRDP growth rate in 2022 has reached 9.08%, in the first 6 months of 2023 it has reached 5.7%. Budget revenue in 2022 is approximately 22,000 billion VND (equivalent to nearly 919 million USD), the first 8 months of 2023 were estimated to be nearly 11,000 billion VND (equivalent to over 400 million USD). Attracting investment achieved positive results, in which, attracting foreign investment became a bright spot, attracting approximately 1 billion USD in FDI by 2022, ranking in the top 10 nationwide; The first 8 months of the year exceeded 1 billion USD, ranking 8th out of 63 provinces and cities in the country. The fields of culture - society, defense - security are all emphasized.

Furthermore, in recent times, on the basis of summarizing 10 years of implementing the Politburo's Resolution on the development directions and tasks of Nghe An province, the Politburo has agreed to issue Resolution 39-NQ /TW on construction and development until 2023, vision to 2045. Along with that, the Government has just signed a Decision approving the Nghe An Provincial Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. These are especially important contents for Nghe An province to develop long-term and achieve its goals. The target is to move towards becoming a good province of the country

Kim Oanh