(VOVworld) - The 9th Vietnam-France Decentralized Cooperation Conference opened on Monday in the city of Brest, France.

Vietnamese ambassador to France read the letter of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung  sent to the conference

Themed “Towards a new type of development: opportunities and responsibilities of Vietnamese and French localities and local partners”, the conference demonstrated the determination Vietnamese and French localities to boost and extend this effective cooperative model. In a letter sent to the conference, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stressed the time-honored friendship, long-term comprehensive cooperation and trust between Vietnam and France that has developed strongly over the past years with cooperation between different localities being typical nowadays.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said that France is now the leading country in terms of the number of local-level cooperative projects in Vietnam with 230 operating projects. Cooperation projects between Vietnam and France’s localities are small but have practical results, helping foster their friendship: "This cooperation model supplements national-level cooperation programs meeting the demand for local development and creating good opportunities for the two sides to exchange experience, management knowledge and technology transfers which benefit the people. The key to this effective cooperative relationship is the strong support from senior leaders of the two countries and mutual understanding and trust between the Vietnamese and French regions".

The 3-day conference will discuss education-training, healthcare, and culture in the Francophone community; urban and rural sustainable development and planning.