The Dak Lak provincial People’s Committee and the Mondulkiri provincial administration held a conference in Buon Ma Thuot on August 26 to review the implementation of their 2024-2025 cooperation memorandum and sign a new memorandum for 2026-2030.
Positive progress in bilateral cooperation
Since 2024, the two provinces have maintained regular delegation exchanges, with 14 delegations taking part in political, cultural, diplomatic and festival activities. These exchanges have helped strengthen mutual understanding, trust and cooperation.
Economic and trade ties have also received greater attention. In 2024, Dak Lak businesses attended a trade fair in Mondulkiri during the Chol Chnam Thmay traditional New Year celebrations. In June 2026, the two provinces held a forum to promote economic and trade cooperation between businesses, providing opportunities to exchange information, showcase products and explore partnerships.
In investment, the Dak Lak Mondulkiri Rubber Development Company (Dakmoruco) has continued to operate its rubber planting, cultivation, harvesting and latex processing project in Busara Commune, Pech Chenda District, with 1,623.92 hectares of rubber currently under exploitation.
The two sides have also maintained cultural, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, including art and sports programmes and tourism promotion activities. Dak Lak organised two editions of the “Song of friendship” art programme in Mondulkiri in December 2024 and December 2025.
Border cooperation remains a key area. The two provinces share a 71.972-kilometre border and have maintained close coordination in managing and protecting the shared border. In August 2026, they completed the identification of 40 subsidiary marker locations along the section between markers 41 and 44.
Security forces from both sides have continued information sharing and joint efforts to prevent and combat crime. The two provinces have also cooperated in searching for and repatriating the remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Cambodia. During the 2023-2025 dry seasons, the remains of 50 people were recovered and repatriated.
Expanding cooperation based on local needs
The conference noted that cooperation remains focused largely on delegation exchanges and activities held on special occasions, while long-term and specialised cooperation programmes remain limited.
Trade promotion and business connectivity have yet to produce many joint production, processing and distribution projects, while cooperation in education, healthcare, tourism and border economic development remains below potential.
The new 2026-2030 memorandum is expected to build on existing cooperation while adding areas such as agricultural traceability, implementation of international regulations on combating deforestation, cross-border forest environmental service payments, carbon credits and cooperation in combating online fraud.
The two sides also plan to strengthen border-area development by linking border management with socio-economic development and improvements in local living standards.
Speaking at the conference, Mondulkiri Governor Kong Mimny thanked Dak Lak for its support and called on the province to further facilitate investment by businesses from Mondulkiri. Chairman of the Dak Lak provincial People’s Committee Do Huu Huy called for closer exchanges between leaders and specialised agencies, stronger economic, trade and investment cooperation, and expanded collaboration in agriculture, forestry, environmental protection, education, healthcare, culture and tourism.
He expressed hope that the two provinces would turn their agreed priorities into practical programmes, creating more tangible progress in bilateral cooperation and contributing to the strengthening of the good-neighbourly, traditional friendship and comprehensive, sustainable cooperation between Viet Nam and Cambodia.
