A ceremony to welcome the completion of Vietnam-Laos border marker planting will be conducted at a border gate on July 9, Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi said. Nghi made the statement during the ministry’s monthly press conference in Hanoi on July 4, adding that the event will be conducted at the Thanh Thuy border gate – between Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An and Laos’ Bolikhamsay province. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Lao counterpart Thongsing Thammavong are scheduled to attend the ceremony, Nghi said. The event will mark the conclusion of a project to upgrade the Vietnam-Laos marker system, contributing to building a shared border of peace, friendship, stability and cooperation for mutual development between the two nations, the official said. The project is also aimed at paving the way for socio-economic development in boundary areas between the two countries, he added.

As previously reported, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Lao Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith discussed ways to promote bilateral border cooperation during Minh’s visit to the Lao province of Luang Prabang from June 14-16.

The two ministers agreed to enhance their border officials’ and peoples’ awareness about border laws, with the aim to build a shared border of peace, friendship and sustainable development.

In addition, the two countries will intensify their fight against cross-border crimes and illegal border crossing. Vietnam and Laos share a border line of 2,067 km, the longest border line of Laos with a neighboring country. In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency in Vientiane on July 4, Lao Deputy Foreign Minister Bounkeut Sangsomsak said the land border marker planting reflects the special friendship and solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos.

The celebration for the completion land border marker planting in the field marks a great landmarks in the relationship between the  two countries.