Speaking at a conference in Moscow on February 24, he said VNAT and the concerned Russian authorities had agreed to implement a series of measures to reach these targets.

According to statistics from VNAT, the number of Russians who visited Vietnam in February soared 8.9 per cent to touch 73,898.

Deputy Chairman of Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) Vu The Binh said the fact that about 300,000 Russian visitors travelled to Vietnam was not commensurate with the relationship between Vietnam and Russia.

VITA has been partnering with VNAT and Ha Noi City to promote Vietnamese tourism in the two major cities of Moscow and St Petersburg, with the aim of attracting more Russian visitors.

VITA has also been working with Vietnamese tourist firms to implement a stimulus programme for the Russian market. The programme will focus on new tourism products, with large discounts and trained staff, he said.

Russian official Sergey Agafonov said many Russian people had never been to Vietnam and that it would be a good replacement for Thailand and Egypt in terms of tourist destinations.

The revenue from tours to Vietnam was increasing, Agafonov said.

Valery Korovkin, a Russian official, believed the target of one million Russian visitors by 2020 was achievable if both sides co-operated well and promoted the tourism potential of both countries.

At the conference, representatives of a Russian tourist firm worked with 12 Vietnamese tourist firms to show some tourism products, along with discounts of 20 to 30 per cent.

Vietnamese firms introduced promotion websites by Russians, as well as tours to northern Vietnam for Russian customers.

MP La Mar Naw Aung from the Kachin State Democracy Party, along with a majority of the house, seconded the proposal from MP Lagan Zal Gyone from Waingmaw, Kachin State.

Lagan Zal Gyone said: “Many people, including children, are addicted to drugs which are easily available. They cannot escape the vicious cycle of drugs. For many years this country has lost its valuable human resources.”

The country’s anti-narcotics drive has seen little success despite cooperation from international organisations, including the United Nations.

Kachin and Shan states bear the brunt of the drugs trade. In 2014, 30 mothers from the northern Shan State formed a community-based drug eradication team. Many mothers have to suffer the evil consequences of drugs. They lose husbands, children, homes and cattle. The team arrests drug dealers and hand them over to the authorities, they help addicts to come off drugs and persuade them to lead better lives through religion,” the MP said.

The team educated poppy growers about the drugs trade and coordinated with them, Lagan Zal Gyone said. In 2015, more than 400 acres of poppy plantations were destroyed. During this year, more than 3,000 acres of poppy plantations in Tanaing, Swanparabwan, Putao, Chipwi and Indawgyi regions could be destroyed, he said.

More than 800 poppy acres were destroyed in Waingmaw Township with the help of the government, police and Tatmadaw. But they could not reach the larger plantations as more than 1,000 people equipped with various weapons blocked their way, Lagan Zal Gyone said.

Lagan Zal Gyone said: “Parliament’s undertakings run counter to the situation on the ground and official acts. Currently, a team comprising people from all departments sent by the Kachin State government can destroy at most about 15 poppy acres in Waingmaw region a day. On February 16, more than 4,000 people from northern Shan State and Kachin started to leave the area on the Satone road. We heard they need more security. The group includes mothers and young girls. Foreigners have monopolised poppy growing in the region.

“It undermines our sovereignty. The team is in need of effective assistance to destroy more than 10,000 acres in the government-controlled area in a timely manner.”

The Lower House will continue discussing the issue tomorrow.

“Our citizens who work there are day labourers trying to survive but the foreign owners are making huge profits,” Lagan Zal Gyone told the media.

The motion was filed on the same day that Kachin State government allowed the Kachin State-based anti-narcotics vigilante group Pat Ja San to destroy poppy cultivations in Kanpaikte.

Departmental officers from the Kachin State government, including the regional security and border affairs minister, negotiated with the religious leaders of Pat Ja San on February 23.

On February 16, 2,053 members of Pat Ja San were stopped by government troops near Bar Kyun Bridge at the Chibwe feeder road along the Waingmaw-Kanpaiktee road in Waingmaw Towship after the group’s actions sowing tension between military, ethnic armed groups and locals. The standoff lasted eight days.

After five years of consideration, the UN body has decided that the 5km section of the 130km road, which is under construction, can pass through the world heritage site. Construction of the road, which was 60 percent complete at the time, was halted in 2010.

The 5km section through the Vat Phou site, including three concrete bridges, should have been finished at the end of 2011.

However, an official in the province’s Champassak district, Khampheng Sengmany, told Vientiane Times today that despite permission being given by Unesco, work on the road had not yet resumed.

“The construction company has not yet begun work on the road through the Vat Phou area as they don’t have the necessary finances at present,” he said.

Khampheng added that the company may have used up its money on other projects as they did not know when or if Unesco would grant permission for the road to pass through the temple site.

Deputy Prime MinisterPhankham Viphavanh discussed the matter with provincial authorities and company staff last week, saying he would try to obtain financing so that Road No. 14A could be completed.

The project was delayed while Unesco and provincial authorities carried out surveys and collected information from the Vat Phou Heritage Office on the possible impact of the road on the heritage site.

Work on the road began in 2008, with the first section running through Phongthong district to the Cambodian border. The first 25km stretch linking Phonthong district to Champassak district was completed at a cost of US$33 million.

The second section will run 35km from Champassak and will cost about US$19 million. This phase includes the 5km stretch through Vat Phou area.

The second phase was scheduled for completion by 2015, under the provision that Unesco allowed the road to pass through the temple complex.

Officials believe construction of the road will enable more tourists to visit the temple and ease traffic flow during the Vat Phou Festival which takes place in February each year, drawing thousands of people from across the country and overseas