State President Truong Tan Sang and his spouse will visit Laos at the invitation of General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and State President Chummaly Sayasone.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s annoucement released on March 19, the visit is due to take place from March 23 – 25.

Vietnam and Laos established diplomatic ties in 1962 and signed the Friendship and Cooperation Treaty in 1977.

Trade between the two countries reached 1.58 billion USD in 2014, a 34.5 percent annual increase. The two nations have set to lift this to 2 billion USD by late this year.

Vietnam has poured over 5 billion USD in Laos, becoming one of the largest investors in the country.

Currently, nearly 8,000 Lao students are studying in Vietnam while Laos is home to over 400 Vietnamese students.-VNA