The Lao Party and State have awarded the Issara (Freedom) Order, third class to three units of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations.

Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Thongloun Sisoulith on Dec. 24 presented the noble order to the Commission’s Laos and Cambodia Department, the Protocol-Administration Department and the Office.

Speaking at the ceremony, Thongloun Sisoulith, who is also a Politburo member and Head of Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, thanked the Commission for External Relations of Vietnam for its close cooperation with the Lao counterpart.

He hailed achievements and contributions made by the three departments’ officials as well as the Commission, thus contributing to strengthening the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two parties, states and peoples./.