Attending the event were Hoang Van Nghiem, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Son La provincial Party Committee; Duong Quoc Huy, member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Lao Cai provincial Party Committee; and Nguyen Dinh Viet, Deputy Secretary of the Son La provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Son La provincial People’s Committee, among others.

During the 2021-2025 period, the two localities proactively strengthened cooperation and achieved positive results. Coordination and information exchange between their agencies and sectors were conducted smoothly and effectively, with various cooperation programmes and plans signed. They also coordinated in conducting surveys for key linked tours to establish a safe tourism corridor connecting Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and northwestern provinces, notably the “Northwest Epic” tour.

Lao Cai has actively supported the distribution of Son La’s agricultural and OCOP products through supermarkets, retail stores and product display outlets in the province, while also providing information on customs clearance and facilitating exports to the Chinese market. The two sides have also coordinated to effectively operate eight fixed interprovincial passenger transport routes.

Welcoming the Son La delegation, Huy emphasised that entering a new development period, with expanded development space, improved infrastructure connectivity and a more open institutional framework, the two provinces have greater opportunities to combine Lao Cai’s advantages as a gateway for international trade with Son La’s potential in production, tourism and energy.

This requires the two provinces to shift their approach from “coordinating on individual tasks” to “jointly creating development drivers,” elevating cooperation from separate activities to substantive regional linkages in pursuit of growth and development goals for both localities.

For his part, Nghiem affirmed that Son La has always regarded strengthening comprehensive cooperation with Lao Cai as one of its strategic and practical priorities to better leverage the two provinces’ potential and strengths, promote rapid and sustainable socio-economic development, and make a positive contribution to the development of the region and the country.

On the occasion, Son La and Lao Cai signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation for the 2026-2030 period. Accordingly, they will jointly propose the central level consider and approve the investment policy for the Son La-Lao Cai expressway, with a view to commencing construction before 2030.

In the immediate term, the two provinces will review and upgrade roads linking them, expand interprovincial economic space, particularly in logistics and tourism based on their natural landscapes and cultural identities, and cooperate in developing industry, energy and mineral processing, as well as environmental protection.