In the first six months of 2024, the Steering Committee for Border Work and member agencies of the Steering Committee, specialized agencies, authorities, and mass organizations of the province continue to maintain more effective implementation of the work, propagating and disseminating laws in border areas. Propagating content focuses on 02 legal documents on borders signed between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of Laos so that people are fully aware of the general achievements of the two countries, raising self-awareness in working together, contributing to cultivating and protecting the special friendly relationship between the two Parties, Governments, and People of the two countries, raising awareness of national territorial sovereignty, rights and obligations of citizens, and unions, national unity, thereby actively participating in effective combat with propaganda activities and inciting compatriots to participate in activities that disrupt security and order, contributing to maintaining security and order, preventing and fighting crime and gradually developing socio-economic development in border areas.

Son La province always pays attention to building solidarity, friendship, and comprehensive cooperation with other provinces of Lao PDR.

News and press agencies in the province have broadcast many news, articles, and photos with content about the security, economic, and social situation in the border area, and disseminating legal education on ensuring safety, security and order, entry and exit management, civil status, nationality, etc. The Provincial Border Guard force organized and maintained 1,128 working groups and teams with 2,234 officers and soldiers to regularly monitor the situation in the border area and organized 389 propaganda sessions about the Party's policies and guidelines, the State's policies and laws and 02 legal documents on the border to 15,715 ethnic people in the border areas of the province, mobilizing the masses of people in border areas to actively develop socio-economic development according to the programs, projects, and plans of the province.

Simultaneously, the Provincial Border Guard and People's Committees of border districts regularly coordinate closely with the functional forces of Hua Phan province and Luong Pha Bang province (Laos) to maintain bilateral and unilateral patrols to protect the system of border lines, national boundary markers, and border marker posts according to the provisions of the Agreement, organizing maintenance and repainting of letters and numbers for all national boundary markers and border markers in the province according to management and protection assignment (even numbers). Currently, we are coordinating with Luang Prabang province to maintain and repaint the letters and numbers of national border markers and border markers under the responsibility of Luong Pha Bang province.

In addition, the specialized border gate management forces have maintained and strictly implemented coordination work, creating favorable conditions for border traffic by the provisions of each country's law and the Agreement on Regulations of border management and border gates on the Vietnam - Laos mainland. In the first six (6) months of 2024, specialized forces completed procedures at the border gate for 11,997 people leaving the country and 11,260 people entering the country; exit procedures for 1,624 cars and 8,313 motorbikes; Entry procedures for 1,482 vehicles and 9,286 motorbikes. Carrying out export procedures for 437 tons of cement, 927 tons of cotton, 4,000 construction bricks, more than 95 tons of galvanized steel, 1,500 cement Fibro panels, 06 tons of galvanized steel sheets, 05 tons of cold-pressed steel sheets; imported 2,240 tons of corn, 1,940 tons of cassava,...

The province always pays attention to organizing and implementing programs, schemes, projects, plans, residential planning, developing transport infrastructure, information, healthcare, and clean water,..., and contributing to gradually promoting Socio-economic development in border areas: organizing surveys and assessing the current situation of illiterate and re-illiterate people between the ages of 15 - 60 years old; regularly review and grasp information on the number of illiterate and re-illiterate people; developing a plan to open specific literacy classes (XMC) for each commune in the border area; organizing classes and teach XMC; arranging enough teachers to teach XMC; ensuring enough facilities for XMC teaching; fully and promptly implementing regimes and policies for XMC teaching work; innovating the management and organization of XMC classes to suit different groups of learners; organizing XMC classes by the living habits of ethnic minorities; appropriating to the student's work conditions.

Continuing to develop agricultural and forestry production in concentrated, specialized farming areas with appropriate scale, promoting the potential and strengths of each region associated with effective implementation of the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program; guiding the implementation of restructuring the agricultural sector, converting the structure of plant varieties in the direction of increasing the planting area of plants with a high economic value associated with the formation of specialized and concentrated farming areas; reviewing and evaluating the current status, tasks, and solutions to implement the national target program to build new rural areas and the one-commune-one-product program in border districts in the period 2022 - 2025; surveying and developing a plan to open specific literacy classes for each commune in the border area in 2024, etc.

Thuy Nhu

Translated by Tuan Minh DANG