VIENTIANE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — The value of bilateral trade between Laos and Vietnam over the past six months of 2016 has fallen 34.8 percent following the Lao government's orders for some mining exploration projects to be stopped and to ban the export of logs and timbers overseas, Lao News Agency KPL reported Tuesday.

The value of bilateral trade was recorded at only 3.46 trillion kip (some 427 million U.S. dollars). When compared to the previous year, bilateral trade between Laos and Vietnam fell by almost half.

The 10th meeting on cooperation on border trade development between Laos and Vietnam was held on last Friday in Attapeu Province of southern Laos, some 570 km southeast of Lao capital Vientiane by aerial distance.

The meeting was attended by Lao Minister of Industry and Commerce Khemmany Polsena, Attapeu Governor Nam Viyaket, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, and business people of the two countries.

The value of trade between Laos and Vietnam was 8.8 trillion kip (around 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) last year and when compared to 2014, was a drop of 12.6 percent.

However, participants of the meeting pledged to spur the value of border trade between Laos and Vietnam to increase by 20 percent in 2016 through better cooperation.