Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and her Lao counterpart Pany Yathotou attended a ceremony in Vientiane on August 22 to recognize the “Truong Son Trail—Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos” as a national historical relic of the country.
In December 1960, to meet the requirements of the struggle for national liberation and resistance against the US, the Lao People’s Party (now the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party) and the Vietnam Workers’ Party (now the Communist Party of Vietnam) agreed to survey and construct a strategic transport route known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.
The route not only served military and logistical transport purposes but also functioned as a strategic base of mutual support, symbolizing the combatant alliance and special solidarity between the two peoples. It also supported the common battlefield of Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Acceding to its role and significance, the Parties and Governments of Laos and Vietnam assigned their defense ministries to dispatch expert teams to jointly survey and collect information on the historical sites along the route. In 2023 and 2024, the teams surveyed 18 sites across seven provinces of Laos. Despite challenges such as deterioration and changes over time, they gathered valuable information to form the basis of a scientific dossier for the recognition of the Truong Son–Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos as a national relic.
On December 16, 2024, the Lao Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism (now the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) signed a decision on the recognition.
Lieutenant General Vongsone Inpanphim, Chairman of the General Department of Politics of the Lao People's Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence, noted that after the recognition, the ministry has been working to develop the site into a historical tourism destination. This will enable Lao officials, soldiers, and people, particularly younger generations, to learn about and further nurture the special bilateral relationship, while also studying the creative scientific, strategic, and tactical military values of the two armies for application in the modern era.
Earlier the same day, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan laid a wreath at the monument of Lao heroes and martyrs in Vientiane.
