The national archives departments of Vietnam and Laos will cooperate extensively in human resources training and document exchange in the coming time.

This is the content of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Dang Thanh Tung, Director of Vietnam's Department of State Records and Archives and Thongchanh Keosenhom, Director of Laos' National Archives Department on December 6 in Hanoi.

The MoU reaffirms the long-term friendly relationship and commitment between the National Archives of Vietnam and Laos.

The heads of the archives agencies of Vietnam and Laos signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation. Photo: Ngo Minh/The Hanoi Times

Accordingly, in 2024, the two sides will strengthen cooperation in training and capacity building for filing clerks and archival staff, with the Vietnam Department of Records and Archives organizing internships for 20 workers from the Lao National Archives. The Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam will continue to provide three undergraduate scholarships and one master's scholarship to Laos in this field.

The two sides will also strengthen cooperation in exchanging and sharing information on archival documents and organizing activities to promote the value of archival documents in the two countries. Leaders of the two sides will meet alternately in Vietnam and Laos to discuss the implementation of the signed cooperation plan and the next collaboration plan.

Director of the Department of State Records and Archives, Dang Thanh Tung, said due to objective reasons, the cooperation activities in recent years have not been carried out in proportion to the close and traditional cooperation between the two archives.

The MoU will be the basis for the Department of State Records and Archives of Vietnam and the National Archives of Laos to carry out bilateral cooperation activities in the coming year and make new achievements in document preservation.

Director of the Lao National Archives Thongchanh Keosenhom expressed confidence that the cooperation will be fully implemented in 2024. She said that Vietnam has always provided valuable assistance to the National Archives of Laos, especially in helping Laos to build a national archival industry, providing training, exchanging documents and launching the book "The Special Relations of Laos and Vietnam" on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"These are the most practical and vivid demonstrations of the cooperation between the two agencies, which also contributes to the good traditional friendship between the two countries," Keosenhom said.