Vietnam and Laos join forces to beef up national archives

The State Records Management and Archives Department of Vietnam and National Archives Department of Laos have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a cooperation plan in 2013.

The signing of the MoU on Oct 24 is part of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2012 activities, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.

Under the agreement, the two departments will jointly establish and exchange archives indexes relating to both countries' history.

The two sides will continue sharing experience in archives and records management via exchanges of documents and experts at jointly-held conferences and symposiums.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training will provide short and long-term training courses to staff of the Lao archives agency.

The ministry will offer assistance to help Laos carry out a project on a national archive insurance centre located at the northern Luang Prabang province.

In the past years, the two agencies, as members of the International Council on Archives and its branch in Southeast Asia, have closely coordinated at regional and international forums.