Happy to welcome Comrade Thong-chan Manixay and the Delegation to visit the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa respectfully acknowledges that the Minister's visit to Vietnam continues to contribute to promoting the traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation, and long-term sustainability between the two countries and two peoples in general and in particular in promoting cooperation in the field of environment.
The Deputy Minister said that on the basis of treaties, agreements and agreements signed by senior leaders of the two countries over the past time, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam has closely coordinated with relevant ministries of Laos, including the Ministry of Interior of Laos, to carry out practical and effective cooperation activities in a number of related fields such as surveying, cartography, land management, meteorology, hydrology and environment protection.
In the field of cooperation between the two ministries, the Deputy Minister highly appreciated the specialized units that have had specific cooperation such as in the period 2014-2018, within the framework of the Agreement on economic, cultural, educational and scientific - technical cooperation signed by the Governments of the two countries Vietnam - Laos in Vientiane in 2012, the Department of Surveying, Mapping and Geographic Information of Vietnam and the National Mapping Department of Laos have coordinated to develop the topographic information project in service of the project "Building a topographical information database for the Lao project" socio-economic and environmental resources monitoring of Lao PDR”. The products of the project were handed over to the Lao National Map Department in 2018, timely serving the planning, socio-economic development, defense, security, resource management and environmental protection of Lao PDR.
In December 12 the Vietnam Department of Surveying, Mapping and Geographic Information signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Lao National Mapping Department, the two sides look forward to continuing to strengthen and expand cooperation in the fields of surveying, cartography and geographic information.
"With Vietnam's experience in formulating and implementing policies in the fields of surveying, cartography and geographical information, MONRE wishes to continue cooperating with the Lao Ministry of Home Affairs in areas of strength and interest to further develop the relationship between the two countries in the field of natural resources and environment in the coming period," said the Deputy Minister.
Regarding the promotion of bilateral cooperation between the two ministries, the Deputy Minister proposed to continue creating favorable conditions for the Department of Surveying, Cartography and Geographic Information of Vietnam to coordinate with the Lao National Mapping Department to exchange and share experiences in the development of the Law on Surveying and Cartography and the development of documents under the Law; continue to coordinate in developing the project outline for the project "Restore and improve the Lao national elevation network" proposed to use the funding of the Vietnamese Government for the Lao Government in the next phase as well as jointly mobilize bilateral and multilateral international agencies and organizations to also support the two ministries to implement regional and regional cooperation projects.
Sincerely thanking the support of the Government of Vietnam and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment during the past time, the Minister of Interior of Laos said that, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to help build a database of basic topographic information, Laos has established a basis for building the country's socio-economic development plan. In addition, projects on natural resources and environment successfully implemented in Laos are also a vivid proof of the effectiveness of cooperation between the two sides.
On this occasion, Comrade Thong Chan Manixay wished that the two sides would continue to cooperate in exchanging experiences, implementing cartographic projects, and promoting the traditional friendly relationship between the two countries.
