Vientiane, August 23, 2025 – The Europe Today: Vietnamese Vice President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân and her Lao counterpart, Pany Yathotou, attended a ceremony in Vientiane on Thursday to officially recognise the “Trường Sơn – Hồ Chí Minh Trail in Laos” as a national historical relic.
The Hồ Chí Minh Trail, constructed in December 1960 following an agreement between the Lao People’s Party (now the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party) and the Vietnam Workers’ Party (now the Communist Party of Vietnam), played a vital role during the struggle for national liberation and resistance against the US. Beyond serving as a military and logistical supply route, it functioned as a strategic base of mutual support, symbolising the combatant alliance and special solidarity between the peoples of Laos, Việt Nam, and Cambodia.
Acknowledging its historical and strategic significance, the Parties and Governments of Laos and Việt Nam tasked their defence ministries with surveying and documenting sites along the route. Between 2023 and 2024, joint expert teams surveyed 18 sites across seven provinces of Laos, overcoming challenges of deterioration and changes over time to compile a scientific dossier. Based on these findings, on December 16, 2024, the Lao Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a decision recognising the trail as a national relic.
Speaking at the ceremony, Lieutenant-General Vongsone Inpanphim, Chairman of the General Department of Politics of the Lao People’s Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence, said the ministry is now working to develop the site into a historical tourism destination. The project aims to provide Lao officials, soldiers, and citizens, particularly younger generations, with opportunities to learn about the special bilateral relationship and draw lessons from the strategic and tactical values of the two armies for contemporary application.
Earlier in the day, Vice President Xuân laid a wreath at the Monument of Lao Heroes and Martyrs in Vientiane to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the country’s independence.
