Vientiane (VNA) – State President To Lam and General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith agreed on orientations and measures to bolster cooperation between Vietnam and Laos across all fields, in their talks held in Vientiane on July 11 during the former’s ongoing state visit.
Sharing the delight at the growing great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries over the years, the two leaders agreed to continue to maintain high-level exchanges and meetings, promoting important bilateral cooperation mechanisms, thus maintaining and fostering close political relations and highest trust.
They underlined that amid the complicatedly changing world and regional situation, the two countries should increase consultations, experience sharing, coordination and mutual support to overcome all challenges and difficulties and build their independent, self-reliant and intensively integrated economies.
The leaders reaffirmed their country’s consistent policy of placing the highest priority to reinforcing the Vietnam-Laos great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation, while continuing to focus on effectively implementing high-level agreements between the two countries as well as among ministries, sectors and localities, strengthening consultations on strategic matters, increasing visits at high and all levels, and enhancing the efficiency of existing collaboration mechanisms.
They agreed on the need to intensify the popularisation and education of the special ties between the two countries, especially among youngsters, by adding contents on the history of the Vietnam-Laos special relations into the curriculum at schools in Vietnam and Laos, and to cooperate in building historical works honouring the Vietnam-Laos relations, including a Laos-Vietnam Friendship Park in Vientiane.
The leaders concurred to strengthen bilateral security-defence cooperation to deal with new challenges, and coordination and mutual support to ensure political stability, security, social order, and safety in each country, while effectively implementing agreements between the two Ministries of National Defence and Ministries of Public Security, and working closely together in border management and criminal combat. The two countries will continue to cooperate in searching and repatriating remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Laos, and upgrade monuments honouring the Vietnam-Laos combatant alliance.
The two sides agreed to elevate bilateral economic cooperation to match their sound political relations, strengthening the exchange of experience in macro-economic management and corruption fight, upgrading international border gates and the transport system connecting the two countries, and raising the effectiveness of partnership in the fields of education-training, energy, clean agriculture, science-technology, health care, culture, and people-to-people and locality-to-locality exchanges.
Thongloun Sisoulith underlined that President To Lam’s choosing Laos as the destination for his first trip abroad after taking office shows the great attention that the Party, State of Vietnam and the State leader himself to the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Laos.
He praised Vietnam’s achievements in socio-economic development and external affairs, and thanked Vietnam for providing Laos with whole-hearted support during the past struggle for national independence as well as its present cause of national construction and development.
Lam highly valued the great and comprehensive attainments that the Party, Government and people of Laos have gained in national reform and construction, and expressed his belief that the country will overcome difficulties and challenges to successfully fulfil targets set at the 11th LPRP National Congress, and successfully organise the Party’s 12th Congress.
At the talks, the two leaders discussed a number of international and regional issues of shared concern, and agreed that amid the rapid and complex developments in the world, the two sides should increase information and experience sharing as well as close coordination at regional and international forums, and work together to ensure the solidarity and centrality of ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms.
Lam affirmed that in the spirit of brotherhood, Vietnam will whole-heartedly support Laos in performing its international roles in 2024, including the Chair of ASEAN and AIPA.
The Vietnamese State leader took the occasion to announce the Vietnamese Party, State and people’s gift of 20 automobiles manufactured by Vietnamese automaker VinFast to the Party, State and people of Laos to serve important events that Laos will host during the ASEAN Year 2024.
He invited Thongloun Sisoulith to visit Vietnam at a convenient time. The Lao leader accepted the invitation with pleasure.
Following the talks, the two leaders witnessed the exchange of cooperation agreements between the two sides in various fields such as public security, justice, and aviation, as well as deals between Vietnamese and Lao businesses.
On the occasion, the Vietnamese and Lao leaders pressed the buttons to launch a project to build a resident management and citizen identification system in Laos./.
