Son La Province has been actively implementing the Vietnam-Laos Investment Promotion Project up to 2025, following Directive No. 26/CT-TTg dated December 23, 2013, by the Prime Minister of the Government. As a province sharing a long border with two Lao provinces, Luang Prabang and Houaphanh, Son La has established comprehensive cooperation with 09 out of 18 provinces in Laos, including Houaphanh, Luang Prabang, Bokeo, Oudomxay, Phongsaly, Luang Namtha, Xayabury, Xieng Khouang, and Sainyabuli. Son La has maintained a strong friendship with the northern provinces of Laos, with numerous diplomatic exchanges and collaborations in culture, economy, trade, services, education, and more. Investment support activities and trade development cooperation are progressively taking shape, yielding positive initial results.

The leadership of Son La Province, including the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee, has closely directed the implementation of cooperation with the northern provinces of Laos. They have maintained cooperation agreements and support activities, such as Vietnamese language and professional training for officials, soldiers, police, students; technical training and model transfer in agricultural production, among others. There is also close coordination in fulfilling commitments and consensus in multilateral cooperation frameworks on issues related to both countries, seeking support from countries and organizations in the region and internationally to promote economic cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, particularly between Son La and the northern provinces of Laos.

Foreign cooperation and international integration have been prioritized, becoming a central theme in cooperation forums between Son La and the northern provinces of Laos and the wider region. This includes strengthening cooperation with foreign diplomatic agencies and regional cooperation; improving the business environment to create favorable conditions for businesses from Son La and the northern provinces of Laos to invest.

Additionally, the province has initiated planning for border gate areas and the Long Sap border economic zone (with a decision issued to allow detailed planning in the Long Sap international border gate area, Moc Chau district). Directives have been given to prepare investment in infrastructure projects at the border area, including the project to upgrade the Long Sap main border gate to an international border gate. The project has been included in the medium-term public investment plan for 2021-2025 (phase 2) and approved by the National Assembly in Resolution No. 29/2021/QH15 dated July 28, 2021. Funding has been allocated to support the "Workforce Control Station at Pa Hang Border Gate" to ensure conditions for upgrading the Long Sap border gate to an international border gate. Investment has also been made to build a health station in Phieng Sa village, Xieng Khouang district, funded by the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade, with an amount of VND 1,964,848,000.

Son La and the northern provinces of Laos regularly contact each other, exchange information, and coordinate closely to implement agricultural and rural development cooperation programs; forest protection programs between the Son La Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Lao northern provinces' Agriculture and Forestry Departments have been highly effective. Agricultural production models have been deployed in Muong La district, Oudomxay province of Laos, supporting mango, peanut, and cowpea cultivation models.

Furthermore, the Vietnam-Laos Trade and Tourism Exhibition 2017 was organized in Son La city and Moc Chau district, with over 250 booths, attracting participation from domestic enterprises and those from Houaphanh, Bokeo, and Oudomxay provinces of Laos. This event helped promote and introduce potential products of Son La to the Lao market, creating opportunities for meetings, exchanges, investment promotion, trade, and tourism cooperation between businesses of the two countries. Discussions on investment attraction policies, production and business development by the Party and State of the two countries, and experiences in state management in the field of Industry and Trade were also facilitated, creating favorable conditions for the development of trade and import-export activities of traders and border residents.

To effectively fulfill the cooperative and neighborly tasks between the two countries, from the perspective of connecting investment cooperation activities, promoting commodity trade, cultural exchange, and boosting tourism and service activities with the goal of fully promoting the Vietnam-Laos investment promotion project, Son La will continue to strengthen cooperation in all fields. This includes maintaining regular visits and contacts, enhancing the effectiveness of defense and security cooperation, and cooperation between localities of the two countries. Son La affirms its determination to elevate economic cooperation to match the overall special relationship between the two countries, especially in promoting border trade. The province will continue to focus on planning and investing in infrastructure between Son La and the provinces of Laos, particularly the trade infrastructure at border areas, integrating essential infrastructure investment with the construction of stable living conditions for border residents.