Deputy PM visits Laos to promote ties
Deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh began his two-day official visit to
Laos on December 4 at the invitation of his Lao counterpart Thonglun
Sisulith.
He paid courtesy calls to General
Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President
Chummaly Sayasone and Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong.
The Lao leaders pledged to further foster the traditional friendship,
special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two
countries.
Party chief Chummaly Sayasone expressed
his delight at the growing ties between the two parties and said he
believes the two sides will continue working closely for the success of
the congress of each party in 2016.
Meanwhile, PM
Thongsing Thammavong spoke highly of the two countries’ preparations for
the 37th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee in
2015.
He praised Vietnam’s top investor position
in Laos and its commitment to increasing ODA by 30 percent for his
country in the coming time.
A bilateral trade deal should be signed to make a two-way trade value of 2 billion USD in 2015 feasible, he proposed.
On his part, Deputy PM and FM Minh affirmed that the Vietnamese
Foreign Ministry will continue joining hands with its partner to further
the special ties between the two countries.
Earlier, he held talks with his Lao counterpart Thonglun Sisulith,
reaching an agreement that an annual meeting between the two foreign
ministries is necessary for sharing information and coordinating actions
amid the rapidly changing regional and global situations.
They highly valued the results of the plan to upgrade land border
markers along the shared borderline, as well as the implementation of an
agreement on the settlement of issues related to immigrants and
non-registered marriages in the two countries’ border areas.
Both sides agreed to work harder for the official launch of a
“one-stop-shop” model in the Lao Bao- Densavan border gate pair from
January 1, 2015.
The two leaders also briefed each
other on their respective external policies while sharing views on
prominent regional and international issues, including the building of
an ASEAN Community.
They pledged to work closely with other ASEAN member countries to successfully form the community by 2015.
Vietnam is willing to support Laos in acting as the ASEAN Chair in 2016, stated Deputy PM and FM Minh.
Following the talks, the leaders signed an agreement on cooperation
between the two foreign ministries for the 2014-20 period.
Later the same day, Deputy PM and FM Minh, on behalf of the Party and
State of Vietnam, presented the Independence Medal, second class, to Lao
Minister of Justice Bounkeut Sangsomsak, who is also former Deputy
Foreign Minister.
He also awarded the Labour Medal,
third class, and the Friendship Medal to some units of the Lao Foreign
Ministry in recognition of their excellent contributions to promoting
the special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos.-VNA