Festival celebrates Vietnam-Laos special friendship
The Vietnam-Laos special friendship festival opened in Dien Bien Phu city in the northern border province of Dien Bien on December 8 to mark the 56th anniversary of diplomatic ties and the 41st anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation between the two countries.
A performance at the festival's opening ceremony (Photo: VNA)
Dien Bien (VNA) – The Vietnam-Laosspecial friendship festival opened in Dien Bien Phu city in the northern borderprovince of Dien Bien on December 8 to mark the 56th anniversary ofdiplomatic ties and the 41st anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Amityand Cooperation between the two countries.
The event drewrepresentatives from the Lao Embassy in Vietnam and northern Lao provinces, aswell as leaders of 24 provinces sharing the borderlines with Laos, China andCambodia, among others.
Addressing the openingceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Information and Communications HoangVinh Bao emphasised the significance of the festival in strengthening thetraditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperationbetween Vietnam and Laos.
The two-day festivalwas expected to offer a chance to boost the dissemination of information aboutexternal relations in border areas in order to raise awareness and responsibilityof local authorities and people of firmly safeguarding national independence,sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, maintaining peace and stability fornational development and raising Vietnam’s position and prestige in the regionand the world as a whole.
It also enabledbusinesses of Dien Bien province to expand their partnerships, he added.
The festival featured aseries of activities, including artistic performances, a photo exhibition on Vietnam-Laosspecial ties, and an economic, culture and tourism fair.
A conference to promotetrade, investment and tourism of Dien Bien was held, seeking measures tostrengthen border exchange activities of Vietnamese border localities and DienBien with border provinces of Laos and the East-West economic corridor.
At the opening ceremony, the organising boradannounced winners of a photo contest exploring the beauty of Dien Bien.-VNA
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A performance at the festival's opening ceremony (Photo: VNA) 
