The Vietnamese and Lao Finance Ministries agreed to boost cooperation at the eighth meeting of Steering Committee of cooperative programmes in Hanoi on Dec. 27.

Both sides agreed to give priority to enhancing training capacity at three financial schools in northern, central and southern Laos , prepare for the second-stage construction of the Institute of Economics and Finance and upgrade the College of Finance in northern Laos in the first quarter of 2012.

The Vietnamese Finance Ministry will also help Laos to improve the efficiency of its organisational apparatus, research the establishment of units such as the International Cooperation Agency and the National Department of Archives, implement a legal programme for 2012 with focus on researching and drafting legal documents on asset capitalisation and financial issues related to land.

The two sides will also continue to boost comprehensive cooperation in existing fields such as business exchange, documentation, human resource training and equipment provision.

The event was held at a time when the two countries are implementing their socio-economic development plans for the 2011-2015 period and the two finance ministries have begun to carry out the newly signed cooperative agreement for the first year.

The minute-signing ceremony between the two finance ministries took place after the event./.