Mou signed between Da Nang and Savannakhet Province

Secretary Souphan expressed his thanks to the Da Nang leaders for their support for Savannakhet Province.  This is expected to deepen the special ties between the two localities.

The Savannakhet leader briefed his guests on the province’s socio-economic achievements.  At present, 23 Vietnamese businesses have invested in Savannakhet, with a total capital of 145 million USD.  He also added that Da Nang has effectively assisted his province by building schools and farms.  He asked Da Nang’s authorities to continue supporting the province in some aspects, especially training high quality human resources to help its development.

Chairman Chien expressed his delight at Savannakhet’s outstanding achievements, especially in agriculture and educational development.  These have helped to improve the local people’s living standards.  He also highly valued the positive results from the implementation of mutual agreements during the 2007 – 2012 period, which had focused on cooperation in agriculture and education.  The Da Nang leader hoped that the 2 localities would increasingly exchange delegations at all levels, and strengthen relations and comprehensive cooperation.  Special attention should be paid to calling for more of Da Nang’s businesses to invest in Savannakhet.

Also at the event, the leaders of the 2 localities signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) enhancing cooperation during the 2013 – 2017 period.  Under this agreement, Da Nang will grant full scholarships to 5 Lao students to study for Master degrees, 10 for Bachelor degrees, and assist a further 50 students to study in Da Nang.  The Vietnamese Language Centre in Savannakhet will grant Vietnamese language certificates to those who study there before they come to Da Nang.  Da Nang plans to send 2 teachers to the province to teach the Vietnamese language.  The city will also spend an estimated 500 million VND to upgrade the Centre and about 670 million VND to expand agricultural development projects in Savannakhet.  The province will give Lao language training to 2 Da Nang officials for 4 years, and will create more favourable conditions for Da Nang’s businesses to implement socio-economic development projects in Savannakhet.  The number of cooperation and exchange programmes will be increased to effectively exploit the advantages of the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC).

On the same day Chairman Chien, along with leaders of cities and provinces in Viet Nam, Thailand and Laos, attended a ceremony entitled “Laos Tourism Year 2012” and a trade fair in Laos.  Many tourism and agricultural products and handicafts from countries in the Mekong sub-region were on display at over 300 stands.  Of these, 35 were by Vietnamese enterprises.  Da Nang’s stand showcased the city’s attractions and tourism products to the EWEC member countries.  These included the International Fireworks Competition, the Ba Na Hills Resort, the Marble Mountains, Son Tra Peninsula, and tuong (classical drama).  In addition, samples of the city’s seafood products were offered to the Lao and Thai visitors.

The trade fair provided a good opportunity for Da Nang’s enterprises to accelerate trade and tourism promotion with other countries in the region.

During their stay in Laos, the Da Nang delegation visited the Vietnamese Language Centre in Savannakhet’s Kayson Phomvihan District which had received over 4.5 billion VND from Da Nang for its construction.