Vientiane (VNA) - Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and his Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith held talks in Vientiane on October 8, agreeing to further deepen the Vietnam-Laos special relationship, with political ties continuing to serve as the core for bilateral relations.
PM Saleumxay warmly welcomed PM Hung on his first official visit to Laos as head of the Vietnamese Government, saying that the trip reflects the high level of political trust and the special and faithful ties between the two Parties, States and people of Laos and Vietnam. He expressed his belief that the visit will help further deepen the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and strategic cohesion between Laos and Vietnam in a substantive and effective manner.
The Lao leader congratulated Vietnam on its important achievements, particularly in socio-economic development, maintaining high growth and enhancing its international position and role. He also expressed sincere thanks for Vietnam’s valuable and effective support for Laos’s revolutionary cause and national construction and development.
For his part, PM Hung thanked the Lao side for its warm and fraternal welcome and congratulated PM Saleumxay on his election as the Prime Minister by the 10th National Assembly of Laos.
He expressed his confidence that PM Saleumxay will successfully lead the Lao Government in implementing the 10th five-year socio-economic development plan, contributing to the successful implementation of the Resolution of the 12th National Congress of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP).
PM Hung conveyed greetings and congratulations from General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and President To Lam, National Assembly President Tran Thanh Man, and Standing Member of the CPV Central Committee’s Secretariat Tran Cam Tu to Lao leaders and PM Saleumxay. He also thanked the Lao Party, Government and people for their close and faithful support for Vietnam.
The Vietnamese leader congratulated Laos on its achievements and spoke highly of the Lao Government’s efforts to maintain political, defence and security stability, strengthen macroeconomic stability, control inflation, sustain growth and enhance international integration. He stated that Vietnam stands ready to accompany and support Laos within its capacity, particularly by sharing experience in macroeconomic management, finance and budget, institutional reform, infrastructure development and human resources training.
The two leaders informed each other about the situation in their respective countries, development orientations and key tasks in implementing the resolutions of their respective Party congresses.
They expressed satisfaction with the positive and comprehensive development of the bilateral ties in recent times and reaffirmed that the Vietnam-Laos, Laos-Vietnam special relationship remains the top priority in each country’s foreign policy.
The two sides agreed to continue promoting the pivotal role of their trusted political ties in providing overall direction for the bilateral relations; maintain regular all-level visits and meetings; make full use of cooperation mechanisms across all channels; and effectively implement high-level agreements, cooperation plans between the two governments, and cooperation programmes between ministries, sectors and localities of the two countries.
They affirmed that defence and security cooperation remains a pillar of the bilateral ties, agreeing to strengthen coordination in maintaining security, political stability and social order, combating transnational crime, drug-related crime, human trafficking, smuggling and high-tech crime, and managing and protecting the shared border. They also agreed to promote cooperation in emerging areas such as defence industry and cybersecurity.
Regarding economic cooperation, the two sides regarded investment as a bright spot in the bilateral relationship. Vietnam currently has about 300 investment projects in Laos with registered capital of around 7 billion USD, making Laos the top investment destination for Vietnamese businesses.
The two sides agreed to create breakthroughs in economic connectivity, encourage investment in high-value-added sectors, and promote transport, infrastructure, logistics and border-gate connectivity. They will work to increase bilateral trade to 5 billion USD and eventually 10 billion USD annually, while accelerating major projects and resolving difficulties related to mechanisms, procedures and investment efficiency.
Vietnam will continue supporting Laos in training officials, experts and high-quality human resources, PM Hung stated.
The two sides highlighted the Laos-Vietnam Friendship University project as a symbolic undertaking connecting knowledge and nurturing friendship between the two countries for future generations.
The Vietnamese leader took this occasion to announce that Vietnam will provide 2 million USD to build two schools in Laos’s Huaphan and Champasak provinces, supporting education and human resources development.
The two PMs also discussed measures to boost and improve efficiency of cooperation in science and technology, transport, energy and mining, and agreed to carefully prepare activities for the Vietnam-Laos, Laos-Vietnam Year of Friendship and Solidarity 2027, marking the 65th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties (September 5, 1962 - 2026) and the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (July 18, 1977 - 2027).
They agreed to step up information sharing and consultations on strategic issues related to the security, stability and development of each country; continue close coordination and mutual support at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United Nations, Mekong sub-regional mechanisms and other multilateral mechanisms.
PM Hung invited PM Saleumxay to attend the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit and the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam (CLMV) Summit in Vietnam in November.
Following the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of 11 cooperation documents in security, justice, finance, energy, education and training, ethnic and religious affairs and cooperation between localities. They also attended the handover ceremony for a data and citizen identification centre project, and the launching ceremony of the Laos-Vietnam Friendship University project./.
