National Assembly Permanent Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong (R) welcomes Laos news agency Khaosan Pathet Lao (KPL)'s General Director Sounthone Khanthavong (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – National Assembly Permanent Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong hosted a reception for a visiting delegation from the Laos news agency Khaosan Pathet Lao (KPL) led by its General Director Sounthone Khanthavong in Hanoi on January 15.
The official, who is also a Politburo member, lauded the visit amidst the growing ties between Vietnam and Laos in all fields. She noted that many friendship visits have been made by high-ranking leaders of both sides over the years, which affirmed the two countries’ commitments to further promoting theirbilateral relations.
Expressing her delight at the sound partnership between the Vietnam News Agency and the KPL, Phong asked the two agencies to better perform their tasks in providing accurate and timely information to the local media systems, and in popularizing policies of each country as well as the Vietnam-Laos traditional friendship to international friends.
Stressing that the VNA is the strategic and trustworthy news centre of the Party and State with various media products, she expressed her hope that the VNA will continue supporting and exchanging experiences with the KPL to better meet the requirements of each country in the new period.
Phong said she believes that the VNA and the KPL will continue making reforms and effectively implement their cooperation, thus promoting their role as major media agencies of each country and contributing to strengthening the special relations between the two peoples.
For his part, Sounthone Khanthavong spoke highly of the VNA’s support to and cooperation with the KPL in all fields, including technical infrastructure, equipment, and information exchange.
Currently, the KPL is facing difficulties in personnel training, with fewer reporters and editors fluent in Vietnamese, the Lao official said, expressing his hope that the Vietnamese NA will pay more attention to the matter and providemore long-term scholarships to officials from the KPL.
Earlier the same day, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi held talks with the visiting KPL leader, during which the two sides briefed each other of their operation and progress and reviewed bilateral cooperation activities over the past years. They shared delight at the efficiency of professional collaboration between the two agencies.
VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi and KPL General Director Sounthone Khanthavong sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation following their talks in Hanoi on January 15 (Photo: VNA) The VNA has supported the KPL in launching technical infrastructure projects, including the building of a working network and a modern film studio for the KPL, which have helped improve the quality and effectiveness of KPL operations, they noted.
The two sides concurred to continue enhancing the quality of exchanged information, strengthening communications on the special cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, increasing the number of copies of theprint publication in the Lao language of the Vietnam Pictorial to 1,500 per month in 2019.
The KPL will continue assisting VNA correspondents in Vientiane to complete their tasks, while the VNA will maintain its support to the KPL in technical infrastructure development by equipment provision and technology transfer.
During their stay in Vietnam, the KPL delegation will attend a ceremony to present Isala Order and the Labour Order of Laos to individuals and collectives from the VNA. They will visit the Vietnam-Laos revolutionary relic site and Moc Chau milk plant in Son La province, and the Nghi Son economic zone and the citadel of the Ho Dynasty in Thanh Hoa.-VNA
VNA
