Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had aworking session with his Lao counterpart Sonexay Siphandone, who is inHanoi to attend the ASEAN Future Forum, on April 22.

PM Chinh congratulated his guest on the Bunpimay traditional NewYear Festival of Laos and thanked the latter for accepting the invitation toparticipate in and address the forum.

Appreciating the host leader’s invitation to attend the ASEAN FutureForum, the Lao PM highly valued PM Chinh’s initiative to organise the event,which attracts representatives of regional and global governments, scholars,and researchers, reflects Vietnam’s active and practical contributions to the ASEANCommunity, and also helps promote the country’s role and stature in the regionand the world at large.

Discussing the two countries’ relations, the PMs shared the view that the greatfriendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnamand Laos have continued developing soundly, firmly, and fruitfully in multipleareas over the recent past.

Political ties have been unceasingly reinforced through frequent mutual visitsand meetings at all levels. Defence and security cooperation remains an importantpillar and becomes increasingly strong and effective, contributing to defence,security, and social order and safety in each country, they noted.

Bilateral economic, trade, and investment partnerships have beenfurther promoted. Trade between the countries reached 476.8 million USD in thefirst quarter of 2024, up 12% year on year. With 245 investment projects worth5.5 billion USD, Vietnam still ranks third among the countries and territoriesinvesting in Laos.

Meanwhile, connections in other fields like education - training,culture, science - technique, tourism, and people-to-people exchange have alsobeen strengthened towards better effectiveness and quality, according to theleaders.

At the meeting, the two PMs looked into measures for effectivelyimplementing high-level agreements and the outcomes of the 46th meeting of the Inter-governmental Committee.

Theyagreed to continue increasing high-level visits and meetings; properly carryout the agreements between the two governments, including the Vietnam - Laos agreementon the cooperation strategy for 2021 - 2030, the deal on bilateral cooperationfor 2021 - 2025, and the one on the cooperation plan 2024; and boost defenceand security cooperation to effectively cope with non-traditional challenges,including border management and protection and the trans-national crime fight.

Vietnamand Laos will enhance the connectivity of their economies, especially in termsof regulations, finance, transport infrastructure, energy, telecommunications,and tourism. The countries will assist each other to build independent andself-reliant economies that actively, extensively, substantively, andeffectively integrate into the world. They will work together to thoroughlydeal with bottlenecks and create a favourable environment for Vietnamese businessesto operate in Laos. Besides, the protocols and cooperation projects in thefield of education and human resources training will also be implemented fruitfully,the leaders added.

Both host and guest concurred that their countries will continuecoordinating closely and supporting each other at regional and internationalforums like ASEAN, the United Nations, and the Mekong sub-regional mechanisms.

PM Chinh affirmed that Vietnam keeps supporting and assistingLaos to successfully fulfil international roles in 2024, including the ASEANChairmanship./.