At the conference held on March 29 to sign cooperation agreements with the southern provinces of Laos, Vice Chairwoman of the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Committee, Nguyen Thi Thanh Lich, said that the province has effectively maintained cooperative programs with Attapeu, Champasack, Saravane, and Sekong provinces in recent years.
To date, 15 enterprises have invested in these localities, with total registered capital exceeding US$595.3 million, primarily focusing on rubber cultivation, timber plantations, banana farming, and service sectors.
During the 2021–2025 period, total funding for cooperation reached nearly VND116 billion (US$4.4 million), including VND60 billion (US$2.3 million) allocated to the construction of friendship projects and approximately VND26 billion (US$987,221) for scholarships awarded to students from southern Laos.
The Lao side highly valued the effectiveness of cooperation with Gia Lai, particularly in delegation exchanges, scholarship support, healthcare assistance, human resource training, and agricultural and medicinal processing projects.
Leaders of Saravane Province called for further efforts to translate memoranda of understanding into more substantive and practical outcomes. Meanwhile, leaders of Sekong Province expressed their desire for Gia Lai to facilitate the introduction of enterprises to invest in sugarcane, rubber, and coffee cultivation, as well as to conduct surveys for tourism development.
Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Chairman of the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Committee, affirmed that the province stands ready to increase the number of scholarships and raise financial support for Lao students, while proposing that partner localities select suitable candidates for long-term training.
Gia Lai has identified agriculture and livestock development—associated with large-scale raw material zones and deep processing—as priority areas for cooperation to ensure mutual benefits, particularly for local communities. In the field of tourism, the province is prepared to facilitate connections between enterprises of the two countries in line with the signed agreements.
Concluding the conference, Secretary of the Gia Lai Provincial Party Committee, Thai Dai Ngoc, called on both sides to prioritize the enhancement of trade connectivity, the development of logistics, and the promotion of agricultural cooperation associated with processing. He also underscored the need to improve the quality of education, healthcare, and human resource training while expanding cultural and tourism exchanges and strengthening coordination in safeguarding border security.
He emphasized the importance of effectively utilizing delegation exchange mechanisms and translating memoranda of understanding into concrete annual plans, thereby ensuring that cooperation becomes increasingly substantive and sustainable.
On this occasion, the Gia Lai Provincial People’s Committee signed memoranda of understanding on cooperation for the 2026–2030 period with Attapeu, Champasack, Saravane, and Sekong provinces of Laos.
On the same day, Gia Lai Province held a conference to receive delegations and advance the signing of cooperation programs with the northeastern provinces of Cambodia.
Since 2021, the two sides have maintained regular exchanges of delegations, thereby contributing to the consolidation of political trust and the strengthening of the foundation for cooperation.
The Le Thanh International Border Gate has effectively asserted its role as a key trade gateway, ensuring 24/7 customs clearance and moving forward with the implementation of a “digital border gate” model from mid-2026. To date, 14 Gia Lai-based enterprises have engaged in trade with Cambodia, with total turnover exceeding US$815 million.
At the same time, 15 enterprises are implementing 19 investment projects with a total registered capital of more than US$913 million, primarily in the agriculture and forestry sectors.
Infrastructure connectivity between Le Thanh and Oyadav, along with National Highway 19, has facilitated cross-border transportation. Meanwhile, tourism, healthcare cooperation, and people-to-people exchanges have been maintained through five border residential areas.
In the coming time, Gia Lai will continue to promote more substantive cooperation in trade, investment, transport, agriculture, healthcare, education, and border security.
At the conference, Gia Lai Province also signed cooperation agreements with the Cambodian provinces of Preah Vihear, Ratanakiri, and Stung Treng.
