Vietnamese and Lao Youth Unions Collaborate to Empower Young Generations

Luang prabang: Representatives from the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Federation and the Luang Prabang provincial Youth Union convened in Luang Prabang province, northern Laos, on August 23 to exchange insights on youth affairs, job creation, and career orientation. According to Lao News Agency, Secretary of the Luang Prabang provincial Youth Union, Phaivanh Chanthasouk, highlighted the active participation of 63,554 young people aged 15-35 in the province's 1,115 youth union organizations. Recognizing youth as pivotal to local socio-economic development, the union has concentrated on initiatives to develop vocational skills, enhance employability, and motivate entrepreneurship. Training programs have focused on practical occupations, English proficiency, and artificial intelligence, accompanied by preferential loans to support youth-led household businesses. Phaivanh Chanthasouk also emphasized the success of international cooperation, noting that Luang Prabang has formalized seven memoranda of un derstanding with sister provinces in Vietnam. These agreements have facilitated the exchange of youth union officials for professional and theoretical training in Vietnam and enabled scholarship programs for disadvantaged students in remote areas. Vietnamese delegates at the event shared experiences in education, vocational training, employment, entrepreneurship, digital skills, technology, and AI. They advocated for stronger cooperation between young people from both countries in building a network of young entrepreneurs, organizing skills training courses, and promoting youth-produced products. During the meeting, the Vietnamese delegation also donated bicycles, bookshelves, notebooks, pens, and milk to students at Hung Vuong and Pongsavanh schools in Luang Prabang province. This dialogue served as a practical endeavor to reinforce the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic cohesion between the Vietnamese and Lao parties, states, and people, as well as their younger generations.