Within the framework of the confrence, on the afternoon of August 23rd, 2022, under the chairmanship of the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam, Mr. Le Minh Tri and the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Prosecutor of Laos, Mr. Xaysana Khotphouthone, delegates to the 7th Conference between the People's Procuracy of the provinces sharing the Viet Nam - Laos border discussed and exchanged the results of cooperation in criminal legal assistance and agreed to approve the Minutes of the Conference.
Mr. Le Minh Tri, Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam
delivered the closing speech of the Conference
After some hardworking day, with a spirit of friendship and comradeship, the two sides had straightforward and trustful discussion on many important issues related to: strengthen cooperation and exchange delegations at all levels, training of Procurators and improve the efficiency of cooperation in the fight against transnational crimes in border areas through well implementing the requirements of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters; propose solutions to improve the efficiency of cooperation in the coming time and approved the Minutes of the 7th Conference between the People's Procuracy of the provinces sharing the Vietnam - Laos border. Accordingly, the People's Procuracy of the two countries agreed on 08 contents, including:
Mr. Xaysana Khotphouthone, Prosecutor General of the Laos Supreme People's Prosecutor
delivered a speech at the conclusion of the Conference
1. Appreciating the results of the People's Procuracy of the two countries in implementing the Minutes of the 6th Conference between the People's Procuracy of the provinces sharing the Viet Nam - Laos border signed on August 14th, 2019 in Champasak province, People's Democratic Republic of Laos; especially the successful negotiation and signing of the Treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic on January 9th, 2020; and the Cooperation Agreement signed between of the Supreme People's Procuracy of the two countries on August 22nd, 2022 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
2. Agreeing to evaluate the topic and content of this Conference in accordance with the practical requirements of combating and preventing transnational crimes in border areas in the current context of deep integration. The People's Procuracy of the two countries should strengthen coordination in order to well implement the latest cooperation documents signed between the Supreme People's Prosecutor General of Viet Nam and Laos.
Mr. Le Minh Tri, Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam
and Mr. Xaysana Khotphouthone, Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Prosecutor of Laos
sign a Memorandum of Understanding at the Conference
3. It was agreed that the procuracies of the two countries should maintain regular exchange of delegations at all levels to share information on the crime situation, promptly coordinate and solve difficulties and problems, thereby improving the effectiveness of the fight against transnational crime, actively contributing to consolidating and strengthening the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
4. Affirming the need to strengthen cooperation in training and tostering skills for the contingent of local prosecutor, especially skills and expertise in international cooperation in the field of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters; at the same time, it is necessary to take measures to improve the Vietnamese and Lao language skills for the prosecutor in the border area of the two countries.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Dung, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy
of Viet Nam presented at the Conference
Lieutenant General Ta Quang Khai, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam,
Chief Prosecutor of the Central Military Procuracy of Viet Nam presented at the Conference
5. Strongly agreed that online video conference has become a new, effective and practical cooperation method, suitable to the development trend and current situation. The Supreme People's Procuracy of the two countries should prioritize the allocation of funds, necessary material and technical foundations for the People's Procuracy of provinces and districts sharing a border to strengthen cooperation in the fight against crime, especially drug crime.
6. Military procuracies of the two countries at all levels should continue to promote friendly cooperation and improve the effectiveness of combating transnational crimes; agreed to assign the Department of International Cooperation and Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam and the Department of Planning and International Cooperation of the Supreme People's Prosecutor of Laos as the focal point to assist the two countries' military procuracies in contacting, connecting cooperative activities when required.
Mr. Khamphet Somvorlachit, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Laos Supreme People's Prosecutor
presented his speech at the Conference
Major General Sivay Mayphone, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Prosecutor of Laos,
Chief Prosecutor of the Central Military Prosecutor of Laos, presented at the Conference.
7. Affirming the need to strengthen cooperation, summarize and draw experience on professional supervision skill among Departments under the Supreme People's Procuracy and local procuracies of the two countries; between the People's Procuracy of provinces and cities with similar conditions to promptly solve difficulties and propose solutions for implementation.
8. Maintaining the mechanism of regular meetings between the People's Procuracy of the provinces sharing the Viet Nam - Laos border; agreed to hold the 8th Conference in the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 2025; assigned the International Cooperation Department of the two sides to act as the focal point to advise and propose to the Leaders of the Supreme People's Procuracy of the two countries on specific issues related to the implementation of this Minute to ensure efficiency and practicality.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai, Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy
of Thua Thien Hue province presented at the Conference
Mr. Le Van Dong, Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy of Thanh Hoa province
presented at the Conference
Mr. Phung Manh Hung, Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy
of Son La province presented at the Conference
Concluding the Conference, Mr. Xaysana Khotphouthone, Prosecutor General of the Laos Supreme People's Prosecutor highly appreciated the sense of responsibility of the delegates attending the Conference. The success of the Conference made an important contribution to the development of cooperation between the two countries in the fields of: information exchange on crime situation, crime prevention; exchange professional experience and staff training, etc.. Thereby, improving the effectiveness and efficiency in implementing contents of the Conference Minutes as well as the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal matters, will make favorable conditions for The People's Prosecutor of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the People's Procuracy of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam cooperate more closely.
Mr. Xayasana Khotphouthone suggested that the People's Procuracy agencies of the two countries need to strengthen coordination to implement of the signed cooperation memorandums and agreed to hold the next Conference between the People's Procuracy of the provinces sharing the Laos-Viet Nam border in Lao.
Mr. Khamsouk Sengmixay, Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy of Vientiane City,
Laos presented at the Conference
Mr. Bounthanh Sengdala, Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy of Savanlakhet province,
Laos presented at the Conference
Mr. Khammouane Philapphonedet, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the People's Procuracy
of Champasak Province, Laos presented at the Conference
At the closing remarks, Mr. Le Minh Tri affirmed that after some fruitful working days, in an atmosphere of friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding, the 7th Conference between the People's Procuracy of the provinces sharing the Viet Nam-Laos border with the theme of "Cooperation to improve the effectiveness of the fight against transnational crime in the Vietnam-Laos border area" was a great success, achieved its set goals.
Through the comments at the Conference, the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuracy of Viet Nam concluded that the mechanism of the Conference of the People's Procuracy of the provinces sharing the Viet Nam - Laos border has been improved to become a highlight measure for direct and regular cooperation between the local People's Procuracy of the two countries.
Over the past time, despite the impact of the CoviD-19 pandemic, the People's Procuracy of the provinces sharing the border between the two countries has effectively received and handled requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. The conference also determined the direction for the cooperation relationship between the Procuracy of the two countries in the coming time, in order to meet current requirements of crime prevention and effectively respond to new difficulties and challenges in the context of the two countries' deeper integration in multilateral international cooperation forums.
Mr. Le Minh Tri believes that the success of the Conference will promote the cooperation relationship between the People's Procuracy of the two countries to a new level, make an important contribution to consolidating and developing the friendship and comprehensive cooperative relationship between the Party, State and the people of the two countries Viet Nam – Laos: "Forever Green - Forever Sustainable".