The National Assemblies (NA) of both Vietnam and Laos will host ajoint conference and a range of events on April 23 and 24 as part ofcelebrations for Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Solidarity Year 2012.
The cooperative ties between the two legislative bodies have beendeveloping both in scale and content, contributing to the comprehensivecooperation and special solidarity between the two countries.
The two legislative bodies have regularly exchanged visits at alllevels and stepped up joint activities under the spirit of cooperationagreements that were signed by the leaders of both NAs in April 2007.
In June 2011, Party General Secretary and NA ChairmanNguyen Phu Trong paid an official visit to Laos to confirm theVietnamese Party, State and people’s aspirations and determination topreserve and uphold this special friendship. It is an invaluable assetfor both nations. The year 2011 also saw the exchange of delegations ofNA leaders and NA deputies of the two countries as well as jointactivities between agencies from both NAs’.
Regarding bilateral relations, the two NAs have worked closely togethersharing information and their experiences in law-making and supervisoryprocedures. In addition, the Vietnamese NA has provided training toraise the capacity of deputies, as well as administrative staff capacityof the Lao NA and has also donated equipment and facilities to Lao NAOffice. Vietnam ’s NA also built and presented the Lao NA Office witha new headquarters.
On multilateral relations, theVietnamese and Lao NAs have collaborated closely in organisinginter-parliamentary conferences in Laos , including the ASEANInter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA); the Asia-Pacific ParliamentaryForum (APPF) and the ASEAN People’s Forum (APF). The events have helpedto build up Laos ’ image and its prestige in the region and theinternational arena. The Vietnamese NA also helped their Laocounterparts to organise the 26 th conference of the ASEANInter-parliamentary Organisation, AIPO-26 in 2005 and the APPFconference in 2009.
Over recent years, bilateraleconomic, trade and investment ties have continued to thrive. Vietnamranks the second largest investor in Laos with 424 projects with avalue of 3.57 billion USD. Cooperation between provinces from bothcountries has also been promoted, particularly between Hanoi, Ho ChiMinh City, Ha Tinh, Vientiane, Champassak, and Khammoune.-VNA