A high-ranking Vietnamese delegation attended a workshop on the life and revolutionary career of late Lao President Souphanouvong, held in Vientiane on July 7 on the occasion of his 100 th birthday (July 13).

President Souphanouvong made a remarkable contribution to the two countries’ relations by initiating and nurturing the special friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos , Saman Vinaket, Head of the Steering Committee for Ideology, Theory and Culture of the Laos People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee, stressed in his opening speech.

Lessons learnt from his life and revolutionary career are invaluable to Lao national construction and defence as well as to the development of Laos-Vietnam relations, he added.

A politburo member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, Secretary of the CPVCC and Head of the CPVCC Commission for Information and Education, To Huy Rua, highlighted the late Lao President’s merit in looking after the Vietnam-Laos friendship and special alliance in the resistance war for national liberation and defence.

He also pointed out the influence late Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh’s thoughts had on President Souphanouvong’s revolutionary career, turning the latter, a royal prince, into a soldier and the first President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic./.