National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung asked Vietnamese businesses in Laos to seek new opportunities to broaden their operations in the country.

The Chairman made this request during a Vientiane meeting on September 17 with Vietnamese businesses operating in Laos as part of his trip to attend the 35th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA-35).

He hailed the efforts of the Vietnamese business community in Laos to generate jobs and improve living standards for local residents, adding that they were contributing to the consolidation and development of the special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos as well as deepening bilateral trade and investment relations.

He cited that two-way trade between the two countries exceeded 1 billion USD for the first time in 2013. For the first eight months of 2014 the figure was over 939 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 44.36 percent.

Vietnam has so far invested 5 billion USD in 413 projects in Laos, making it the second largest foreign investor.

These results affirmed the active role of the Association of Vietnamese Investors in Laos (AVIL), which serves as a bridge for Vietnamese companies to do business in the country, Chairman Hung said.

The success of Vietnamese enterprises in Laos will not just enhance bilateral ties, but also benefit their respective economies since both countries are members of the ASEAN Economic Community, which will be established by late 2015, he stressed.

The Vietnamese legislator used this opportunity to thank Laos’ relevant agencies and localities, particularly its southern provinces, for facilitating the operation of Vietnamese investors in Laos.

On the same day, Chairman Hung and other delegation heads at AIPA-35 paid a courtesy visit to General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and Lao President Choummaly Sayasone.-VNA