Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung and his Lao counterpart Thongsavanh Phomvihane co-chaired the 12th Vietnam–Laos political consultation at the foreign ministerial level in Hanoi on December 18 morning, as part of the Lao official’s four-day visit to Vietnam.
During the consultation, in a spirit of special trust, the two officials reviewed recent cooperation between the two Parties, countries and foreign ministries. They also discussed future cooperation orientations and held in-depth exchanges on regional and international issues of common concern.
Trung spoke highly of the close and effective coordination in implementing the agreement between the two ministries in recent years, and welcomed the signing of their cooperation agreement for 2026–2030, which concretises tasks and measures aligned with the new phase of bilateral relations.
He underscored the need to intensify exchanges and propose concrete orientations to ensure bilateral cooperation is substantive, commensurate with the Vietnam–Laos great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation and strategic cohesion.
Thongsavanh reaffirmed a commitment to close coordination, with regular annual rotating ministerial and vice-ministerial cooperation mechanisms. He also emphasised promoting meetings and joint activities between the two ministries, while boosting exchanges between functional units in areas like economic affairs, consular services, border issues, personnel training, information and press, international law, overseas citizen affairs, and multilateral cooperation, including that within Mekong sub-regional framework, ASEAN, and the UN.
He expressed confidence that continued effective coordination and cooperation between the two ministries will importantly contribute to strengthening and nurturing the Vietnam–Laos great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic cohesion.
The two sides welcomed the flourishing development of Vietnam–Laos ties, with political cooperation and strategic trust as the core; solid defence and diplomatic cooperation; notable progress in economic, investment and trade cooperation; and advancing collaboration in culture, education, science and technology and between Party and governmental bodies, sectors and localities.
Regarding cooperation between the Party Committee of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Lao Party Central Committee's External Relations Commission, Trung applauded the results achieved so far and highlighted the successful implementation of the 2021–2025 cooperation agreement, as well as the signing of a new agreement for the next five years.
He affirmed these agreements have deepened and solidified strategic coordination between the two bodies, thus strengthening their core role in safeguarding and strengthening the special Vietnam–Laos relationship.
Valaxay Lengsavad, Deputy Head of the Lao External Relations Commission emphasised that the traditional friendship between the two Parties, along with cooperation and mutual support between his commission and the Party Committee of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provides a crucial foundation for effectively carrying out each Party’s foreign affairs tasks, thereby helping to strengthen the Vietnam–Laos relationship.
The two sides pledged to implement bilateral cooperation agreements and carry out other tasks assigned by the two Parties and States' leaders, particularly the organisation of elections of deputies to the National Assembly in the new tenure in each country, and continue coordination in implementing high-level foreign affairs activities between the two Parties and States in the future.
They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest and welcomed the regular coordination and mutual support between the two countries in multilateral forums, particularly within the UN, ASEAN, and the Mekong sub-regional cooperation framework. They agreed to hold the 13th political consultation in Laos./.
