On August 22 the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s Central Committee, along with the Lao People’s Revolutionary Youth Union Central Committee held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Laos-Vietnam Border Youth Friendship Village.

The village will be built on a 1,034 hectare site in Kham Cot district, in Laos’ Bolikhamsay province, 400 km southeast of Vientiane .

It will cost over VND180 billion, with more than VND65 billion coming from Vietnam’s official development assistance and VND117 billion being provided by the Vietnam Rubber Group.

Once operational, the village will serve as a cultural and trade centre with various facilities including a cultural house, a kindergarten, a nursery school, a health centre and a sports stadium.

Apart from the residential area, which can accommodate up to 70-80 households, the village will also have a training centre to instruct between 350-400 young Lao people in agricultural and forestry technologies each year.

Speaking at the ceremony, the leaders of both youth unions said the village is just part of a range of activities to celebrate the 2012 Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year.

It aims to bring young local people together and form a new sustainable residential area, serving the country’s socio-economic development and national defence while promoting solidarity, friendship and comprehensive cooperation between both countries as well as both youth unions, they said.