Speaking at a reception on March 9 for a visiting delegation from the embassy, Dung highlighted local potential and advantages in terms of renewable energy, forestry, mineral resources, and agriculture. He noted that Dien Bien has identified three key breakthroughs for development, which are developing infrastructure, especially transport and tourism facilities; promoting tourism growth, and strongly improving the investment and business environment.

The province hopes to strengthen its cooperative ties with the embassy and seeks support in connecting Dien Bien with Japanese businesses via investment promotion conferences, the leader said, adding it also wishes to expand practical exchanges and cooperation with Japanese peers, thus contributing to the broader partnership between the two countries.

Hiromatsu Mitsutaka, the embassy’s second secretary, said the delegation would fully take on board the issues discussed during the meeting and report them to the Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam for consideration, with feedback to be provided for Dien Bien in due course.

On the same day, Le Thanh Do, Standing Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Council, received a delegation from the Embassy of France led by Eric Soulier, Counsellor for Culture and Cooperation.

Do expressed his appreciation for the embassy’s support and cooperation in recent years and voiced his hope that France will continue to take an interest in strengthening cooperation with Dien Bien in the fields of culture and education. In particular, he highlighted the cooperation programme between the local Dien Bien Phu Victory Museum and France’s Caen Memorial Museum, which has helped deepen ties between the two countries and the two localities.

For his part, Soulier revealed that a delegation from the French Embassy will visit and work with authorities in Dien Bien later this March.

During the courtesy meeting, both sides also spent considerable time discussing the prospect of expanding cooperation between Dien Bien and French partners in the near future, especially in heritage conservation, culture, and tourism development.

Also on March 9, Nguyen Van Doat, Vice Chairman of the Dien Bien People’s Committee, held a working session with a delegation from the Embassy of Thailand, led by Ambassador Urawadee Sriphiromya.

In recent years, the province has strengthened cooperation with its peers in northern Thailand across a range of areas, including external relations, education and training, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. On February 26, 2013, Dien Bien and Thailand’s Nan province established a friendly cooperative relationship, enabling them to boost mutual visits, seek investment opportunities, tighten business links, and popularise each other's cultures and specialities.

At the meeting, Dien Bien expressed its hope that the signing of cooperation agreements with the Thai provinces of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai will become a highlight in the series of upcoming commemorative events. It has also invited Thai localities and businesses to participate in the local northwest border trade fair this year, while proposing joint tourism promotion activities in Thailand to deepen cooperation in the time to come.

For her part, Urawadee Sriphiromya said that Dien Bien possesses considerable potential and advantages for development, particularly in tourism, agriculture and forestry. On that basis, the embassy stands ready to facilitate connections and invite Thai experts to assist the province in training and capacity-building for human resources to serve tourism development.

The ambassador also proposed forming cultural tourism routes linking Dien Bien with Thailand, and expressed her hope for enhanced collaboration that will create opportunities for Thai enterprises to explore and invest in the province, especially in farm produce distribution and tourism.