Hanoi (VNA) – President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA) Assoc. Prof. Dr Doan Minh Huan held a working session with Dr. Leeber Leebouapao, Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the Lao Academy of Social and Economic Sciences (LASES), in Hanoi on May 26 to discuss breakthrough ways for improving bilateral coordination.
Huan, who is also a Politburo member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, expressed his delight at the achievements attained by the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), State and people, particularly the success of the 12th National Congress of the LPRP. He also congratulated Leebouapao on his re-election to the LPRP Central Committee, for the 12th tenure, and his appointment as LASES President, and vowed to further reinforce the close and traditional cooperation between the two academies.
On the training of Lao management officials, he said future courses will run mainly in Laos to slash time spent away from their posts and limit work disruption, a shift that echoes reform-minded direction from top leaders of both Parties. The Vietnamese side will help build curricula and dispatch lecturers.
To keep the training grounded in reality, Huan urged LASES to proactively provide reference materials, on-the-ground data and policy updates from the LPRP’s 12th National Congress.
The host praised LASES’s real-world policy advisory capacity, noting that many of its senior staff previously held roles in Lao Party, National Assembly and Government policymaking bodies, a background that keeps research tightly linked to actual developments.
Leebouapao, in reply, said LASES employs 210 staff members but counts only 13 doctoral-level researchers, a shortfall he called inadequate for the country’s development needs. He asked the HCMA to continue helping train young scientific talent for the Lao academy.
On research cooperation, the two sides discussed preparations for a scientific conference that will bring together the HCMA, the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, LASES and the Lao National Academy of Politics and Public Administration. The event is set for August 2026 in Vientiane and will focus on the full scope of Vietnam – Laos cooperation, from strategic economic autonomy to improving policy enforcement in an era of globalisation.
The guest proposed bringing in Party and Government agencies from both nations to assess research findings and speed their application to socio-economic development.
Huan backed the call and pushed for deeper coordination and in-depth research on key topics, flagging the “heritage economy” using archaeology to bolster sustainable tourism as a promising avenue.
Both sides also agreed to carry out a full review of their existing memorandum of understanding to build on successes, fix gaps and add new areas of collaboration that fit current conditions.
They reaffirmed their determination to deliver on the agreed initiatives, thus further cementing the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and strategic cohesion between Vietnam and Laos./.
VNA
