Hanoi (VNA) – Chairman of th𒁃e Lao National Assembly SaysomphonePhomvihane will pay an official visit to Vietnam from December 6-8 at theinvitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Vuong D❀inh Hue.

Thisis the first overseas visit by the Lao official in his new position, and alsothe first in-person by a foreign parliament leader to Vietnam from thebeginning of its 15th tenure. Vietnamand Laos are close neighbours, the two peoples have a traditional relation oflong-lasting friendship. In July 1962, the two countries agreed to establishbilateral diplomatic relation, marking a new milestone. In Party GeneralSecretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to Laos in February2019, the two sides agreed to lift the traditional relationship into the greattraditional one. Bilateral cooperation has become more diverse, and beenunceasingly consolidated and updated in terms of both quantity and quality. Ineconomic cooperation, Vietnam is now one of the top three investors in Laos. Tointensify the mutual support, the two countries are currently acceleratingeconomic and transport connectivity projects. Cooperation in education andtraining remains a priority field. Tohelp with Laos’s sustainable development, Vietnam has been facilitating Laos inusing Piers 1, 2, and 3 at Vung Ang port; providing assistance to Lao inbuilding key projects like schools, hospitals and roads. A point of note is thaton August 10, 2021, Vietnam officially handed to Laos the new office of itsNational Assembly after four years of construction. Facingthe global pandemic, Vietnam was the first to send a special flighttransporting medical equipment and senior experts to help Laos fight the secondwave of the COVID-19. Overthe recent years, the relations between the two National Assemblies have beencontinuing to be accelerated which have made important contributions to the comprehensiverelationship between the two countries. In the context of the COVID-19pandemic, leaders of the two law-making bodies have been maintaining theirregular contacts in flexible forms. Theofficial visit to Vietnam by Saysomphone Phomvihane manifests the specialpolitical trust and importance from the Party, State and National Assembly ofLaos as well as from him personally to Vietnam and the bilateral relations. In thecoming visit, the two sides will continue pushing up the implementation of theagreement on the cooperation between the two parliaments, exchange ideas onorientations and measures to strengthen cooperation between the two countriesand parliaments in the time to come; and share experience in implementing thefunctions of the National Assemblies in the fields of making laws, supervising anddeciding on important issues of the countries./.