Representatives of leaders from the governments of Laos and Vietnam and Thua Thien Hue province visiting the exhibition on the field of information and communication at the festival 

Attending the program, on the Vietnamese side, were Vietnam Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam; Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Phuong; Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh.

On the Lao side, there were Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Phosy Keomanivong; representative of the Consulate General of the Lao People's Republic in Da Nang Phousavang Phommachack; Leaders of Salavan and Sekong provinces of Laos

The festival "Cherishing the Special Friendship Festival Vietnam - Laos 2023” takes place with a series of activities, including Photo exhibition, Fair - Exhibition, Scientific discussion, and Vietnam - Laos art exchange night.

Photo exhibition with a total of 200 photos divided into 4 themes: History of 61 years of special friendship between Vietnam and Laos; Vietnam and Laos are on the road to development; Outstanding achievements in Vietnam - Laos cooperation in the field of information and communication; Thua Thien Hue accompanies the country's development.

Fair - Exhibition with more than 50 booths, organized with highlights of Vietnam News Agency, Nhan Dan Newspaper, Voice of Vietnam booths, etc., with information publications and communication programs by Laos language.

 Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam speaking at the 2023 Vietnam - Laos Special Friendship Festival 

In a welcome speech at the Opening Ceremony, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Lam shared about the strong friendship between the two peoples and the achievements of cooperation between Vietnam and Laos in many fields, especially is the field of information and communication in recent years.

Regarding information, Vietnam regularly exchanges delegations at all levels, delegations of information management officers, and delegations of reporters from the two countries, supports journalism training for reporters from Laos, exchanges radio and television programs, and publish publications, promotes press agencies of the two countries to cooperate in information, shares experiences, and provides technical support.

Regarding information technology, the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam and the Ministry of Technology and Communications of Laos, on behalf of the Governments of the two countries, signed an intergovernmental cooperation agreement on digital partnership. This is the first digital partnership agreement between Vietnam and another country, affirming the importance and highest priority for developing cooperative relations to develop digital technology industry, digital transformation, digital infrastructure, digital trade and investment, digital innovation, digital research and development, cybersecurity as well as cooperation on international digital forums.

In the field of telecommunications, this is truly a bright spot in the cooperation between the two countries, with Vietnam's two major representatives in Laos being the Military Industry and Telecoms Group (Viettel) and Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT).

Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of Laos Phosy Keomanivong highly appreciated the activities organized during this year's festival. This is an important event of the two Parties and two States.

“We will work together to make this Vietnam - Laos Special Friendship Festival 2023 become an important annual activity in the press information field of the two countries, implement seriously and effectively other cooperation projects signed by the leaders of the two countries" - Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of Laos emphasized at the ceremony.

Speaking at the Program, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Phuong emphasized: In recent times, the special traditional friendship relationship between Thua Thien Hue province and localities of Laos, especially the Southern and Central provinces of Laos continues to be strengthened and developed well, becoming more and more connected, reliable, effective and practical.

 Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Phuong presenting souvenirs to representatives of Laos 

Within the framework of the Opening Ceremony of the "Cherishing the Special Friendship Festival of Vietnam - Laos 2023", the Signing Ceremony of the "Memorandum of Cooperation Agreement between the Department of Foreign Information and the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam and the Department of Mass Communications, Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism of Laos" took place to promote information and communication work between Vietnam and Laos.

Story and photos: Thai Binh – Ngoc Hieu