Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavat made the announcement at aVietnam-Laos business seminar in Hanoi on April 26.
Lengsavat said he highly values, Vietnam 's active contribution toLaos ' socio-economic development, which, he said, created jobs andboosted the State budget.
He hoped that businesses in thetwo countries will continue to strengthen co-operation in investment anddevelopment, as they did over the past 50 years.
He askedthe two sides to further co-operate in resolving difficultiesencountered by firms doing business in the two countries.
Speaking at the seminar, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc urged the two countries to promote ways to support businesses,while regularly organising talks between the Government and enterprisesto complete agreements on trade and investment.
Phuc alsosaid the two sides need to focus on projects that involve energy,agricultural development and processing, exploitation and trade.
Statistics from the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investmentshowed that Vietnam has 206 investment projects in Laos , with atotal registered capital of 34 billion USD.
The VietnamAssociation of Investors in Laos said Vietnamese projects in Laosare bring implemented strictly and have contributed significantly toLaos ' economy. Most worthy of note are the Laos-Viet Joint VentureBank, Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group's rubber projects.-VNA