A grand meeting was held in Hanoi on December 2 to mark the 35 th anniversary of Lao National Day.

The participants at the meeting included State President Nguyen Minh Triet, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Politburo member and permanent member of Party Central Committee Secretariat Truong Tan Sang, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem, Vice National Assembly Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong and Deputy Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Fatherland Front’s Central Committee Vu Trong Kim.

When addressing the function, PM Dung extended his warmest congratulations to the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), National Assembly, Government and people.

Thirty-five years ago, under the clear-sighted leadership of the LPRP, the national people’s Congress approved a historic resolution to completely abolish the monarchy and establish the Democratic People’s Republic of Laos, said the PM.

The national democratic revolution in Laos achieved a great victory, enabling the Laotian people to run their own country and society and stand shoulder to shoulder with other nations worldwide, he added.

“Both nations always help each other when times are difficult and we are proud of Vietnam-Laos relations and consider them an invaluable treasure that should be respected and passed down to future generations,” the PM stressed.

The Vietnamese Party and State confirmed its consistent stance of attaching great importance to maintaining solidarity with Laos, making this a top priority and is trying its best to consolidate and increase the two peoples’ traditional friendship and solidarity, said PM Dung.

Effective economic, investment and trade cooperation in recent years has lifted bilateral relations to a new height in the interests of both people, he said.

The PM also offered his congratulations to Laos on the 450 th anniversary of the founding of its capital city Vientiane.

The Laotian Ambassador to Vietnam Sunthon Sayachak stressed that the achievements the Laos people have made during national construction cannot be separated from the precious support and assistance provided by the Vietnamese Party and State.

She also used the occasion to thank the Vietnamese Party, State and people for their assistance to Laos’ national liberation in the past and the country’s defence and development at present.

To mark the occasion, 54 students from the Lao provinces of Khammuon and Savanakhet who are currently studying at Quang Binh University met in the central province of Quang Binh.

The provinces military headquarters presented each student with a gift worth 500,000 VND./.