A Vietnamese Party official has described the Lao-Vietnam Joint Venture Bank (LVB) as a symbol of economic cooperation between the two countries.

To Huy Rua, Party Politburo member and Head of the Commission for Organisation of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee made the comment while meeting with LVB staff on June 5 during his five-day working visit to Laos , starting from June 4.

During the meeting, he was briefed on the operation of LVB, which is partnered by the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and the Lao Bank of Foreign Trade (BCEL).

After 12 years of operation, LVB has attained encouraging results, contributing to the building and preservation of the special friendship as well as comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos .

By the end of April, 2011, the bank has a total asset value of over 330 million USD, representing a 30-fold increase compared with that recorded in early days, with an annual growth rate of more than 25 percent.

LVB has partnered with BIDV and BCEL to set up the Lao-Vietnam Insurance Company in June, 2008, which then ranked second out of six insurance companies in Laos in 2010 with annual growth rate of over 200 percent and a network covering 17 cities and provinces in the country./.