On December 19, the Department of Industry and Trade of Dien Bien had a working session with leaders of Giang Thanh district, Pu'er city, Yunnan province (China) to promote the early announcement of the opening of the A Pa Chai - Long Phu bilateral border gate.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Dien Bien, the two sides are currently in the waiting period to announce the opening of the bilateral border gate of A Pa Chai - Long Phu.
To facilitate trade, the Department of Industry and Trade has advised the Provincial People's Committee to seek opinions from the Government and ministries and branches on allowing the implementation of cross-border trading and exchange of goods right before the official announcement.
"The ministries and branches have responded basically in agreement with the policy of announcing that A Pa Chai Border Gate is allowed to conduct cross-border trading and exchange of goods" - Mr. Dung informed.
Notably, according to the cooperation plan for the 2025-2029 period (signed on October 20, 2025), the two sides agreed on the motto: "Before the border gate is officially opened, we will carry out both planning, construction and commercial activities".
The leaders of the Department of Industry and Trade also requested the port city to promptly report to the leaders of Yunnan province to agree on a recommendation to establish the A Pa Chai - Long Phu Border Market according to the laws of the two countries.
In 2025, the total value of import and export of goods and border trade of Dien Bien province is estimated to reach 141.8 million USD (up 1.31%). Of which, exports are estimated at 96.6 million USD.
Strength products in construction materials and agricultural products (caustic, rice, sweet soup, macadamia, sugarcane...) are in great demand.
Discussing the agricultural potential, the leader of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Dien Bien said that the province is currently the third largest coffee growing region ( Arabica) in the country, after Lam Dong and Son La.
Accordingly, the total coffee area is currently estimated at 8,134 hectares with a coffee output of about 6,140 tons. By 2030, the province strives to expand to 20,000 hectares. The province's sugarcane growing area also reached about 84 hectares with an output of nearly 1,900 tons.
Dien Bien province also proposed to support connecting coffee and sugarcane processing enterprises of Giang Thanh district, Pho City with local enterprises to link production and consumption; at the same time, organize regular trade promotion fairs.
At the meeting, Mr. Ho Hung Hoa - Secretary of the Giang Thanh District Party Committee affirmed that the Chinese side attaches great importance to developing border gates.
"We are implementing the construction of infrastructure in the border area to soon open bilateral border gates. Regarding the construction of the border market and the opening, we will send a written response as soon as possible to Dien Bien province, ensuring compliance with the cooperation plan" - Mr. Hoa said.
In particular, the leaders of Giang Thanh district expressed their excitement at the cooperation proposal on coffee and sugarcane. He emphasized that Pu'er City is also the largest coffee growing area in Yunnan province, so the two sides have many things in common about "co coffee culture" to promote trade and develop this industry in the future.
