(VOVworld) - Leaders from 21 southern provinces and cities gathered in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday to review international integration in recent times and orientations for 2020.

The workshop aims to collect ideas for the Politburo’s draft resolution on international integration from now to 2020. Participants agreed that, in the current situation, accelerating economic growth requires international integration, in which localities play an active role in strengthening cooperation with partners and implementing bilateral agreements. Therefore, they said the Government should have specific orientations for localities to integrate deeply and effectively. Some participants proposed that the upcoming resolution should detail the finalisation of the organizational structure of localities which have not established external relations offices to help them promote international integration. Do Van Long is a member of the Steering Board for the Economic Integration of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province: "Most provinces are not familiar with this issue. Moreover, some sectors have not yet clearly defined their responsibilities during international integration. Therefore, consultation on the steps needed to implement international integration have not been effective due to a lack of knowledge on integration at provincial level".