Vietnam and Laos have agreed to work more closely to foster their educational cooperation next year.

The two sides reached the consensus during talks between visiting Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan and his Lao counterpart Phankham Viphavan in Vientiane on December 6.

In 2014, the two ministries will collaborate with relevant agencies to effectively implement all existing agreements, including a project to improve the quality and efficiency of Vietnam-Laos cooperation in education and human resources development in the 2011-2020 period; a protocol on personnel training cooperation; and an annual agreement on economic, cultural, educational, scientific and technological cooperation.

Both host and guest were delighted at the fruitful development of the bilateral ties, with the regular exchange of delegations to share experience.

Vietnam has continued helping Laos in education infrastructure development, especially building a Vietnamese language training facility at the Lao National University and an ethnic boarding school in Xieng Khouang province.

By September 2013, Vietnam was home to about 6,500 Lao students. The country has also sent experts and teachers to train Vietnamese language teachers in Laos .

As the Chairman of the Council of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), Minister Luan held a working session with its Lao members.

The two sides noted with pleasure that between 1998 and 2013, SEAMEO organised 16 training courses on improving leadership and management capacity for educational staff, especially those working at high schools, colleges and universities in Laos.-VNA