They are currently focusing on strengthening economic cooperation and expanding external relations with other countries around the world.

Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) Deputy Head Vu Van Trung said Vietnamese businesses have invested in 335 projects in the Mekong sub-region, with the registered capital of US$7 billion accounting for over 50 percent of the country’s total overseas investment.

In Laos alone, Vietnam has 222 projects worth US$3.9 billion, ranking second among its Indochinese neighbor’s foreign investors.

The country has made significant contributions to Laos and Cambodia’s industrial development, especially in the areas of rubber plantation, hydro-electricity power plant construction, sugar production, and mineral exploration.

Vietnam has also effectively cooperated with regional countries in protecting the environment, upgrading infrastructure, and improving social welfare.

Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group has allocated US$40 million to social welfare programmes that will help the Lao province of Attapeu construct roads, bridges, office buildings, hospitals, and new resettlement areas.

Vietnam’s telecom giant Viettel has also helped improve Lao and Cambodian telecommunications services, particularly in rural areas. The group generated jobs for more than 225,000 local workers in Cambodia and nearly 20,000 others in Laos.

VOV