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| Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongsavan Phomvihane__Photo: VNA |
Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongsavan Phomvihane has affirmed that Prime Minister Le Minh Hung’s upcoming official visit to Laos is of immense historical significance and particularly important to the development of the special relationship between the two countries.
In an interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Laos ahead of the October 8-9 visit, made at the invitation of Lao Prime Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, Thongsavan noted that it is PM Hung’s first official foreign visit since taking office and that Laos is the first country he has chosen to visit.
According to Thongsavan, this demonstrates Vietnam’s strong attention to and priority attached to the bilateral relationship, while reaffirming the commitment to preserving and further deepening the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and strategic cohesion between the two Parties, States and peoples.
The Lao official said the visit comes at an important time, as the two countries enter the first year of implementing the resolutions of the 12th National Party Congress of Laos and the 14th National Party Congress of Vietnam. Laos has recently elected a new President of the 10th National Assembly and a new Prime Minister at the second session of the 10th NA, while Vietnam is convening a meeting of the 14th Party Central Committee and preparing for the first session of the 16th NA.
He said the timing reaffirms the two sides’ shared determination to elevate bilateral ties to a new level.
During the visit, the two sides are expected to sign and exchange more than 10 cooperation documents covering various important fields at both central and local levels, Thongsavan said.
The documents will provide an important legal and political foundation for ministries, sectors and localities of the two countries to implement practical cooperation programmes, while preparing substantive content for the 49th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee on Bilateral Cooperation, scheduled for early 2027.
A Laos-Vietnam investment promotion conference will also be held as part of the visit, bringing together about 1,000 representatives from State management agencies and business communities of the two countries to connect cooperation needs and potential with specific projects.
Thongsavan stressed that Laos expects the visit to create a breakthrough in elevating economic cooperation to match the stature of the two countries’ special political ties, focusing on three main pillars.
Infrastructure and transport connectivity will be a key focus, with the two sides determined to accelerate strategic road and railway projects, as well as energy and fuel supply systems. The aim is to help Laos transform from a landlocked country into a regional connectivity hub, reduce production and transport costs, improve the competitiveness of goods and strengthen links between the two economies.
The two sides will also promote two-way trade and investment by creating more favourable mechanisms to attract Vietnamese investors to Laos, particularly in clean energy, high-tech agriculture, mining and deep processing. Efforts will continue to remove obstacles to border trade and achieve the bilateral trade target agreed by the two countries’ senior leaders.
Cooperation in energy, education and tourism will be further expanded, including deeper energy exchanges and trading, continued development of joint educational institutions, and stronger tourism cooperation under the “One Journey - Two Destinations” model to attract international visitors and increase incomes for people in both countries.
The Lao official said his country hopes the visit will deliver strong, breakthrough and substantive progress in economic, trade and investment cooperation, commensurate with the importance of the two countries’ special political relationship.
To achieve these goals, the two sides should focus on three areas of action, including accelerating economic and strategic infrastructure connectivity projects in transport, energy and logistics to create the “backbone” for stable and sustainable cooperation.
Cooperation should be pursued in the spirit of being “fast, practical, effective and substantive”, with ministries, sectors and localities of the two countries adopting more flexible working methods, promptly addressing obstacles and creating favourable, speedy and reliable conditions for businesses from both sides to invest and operate.
The two sides should also strengthen people-to-people ties among younger generations by promoting youth exchanges and cooperation in education and culture, helping instil the deep tradition of special solidarity among those who will inherit and further develop the invaluable relationship, he added.
Thongsavan also noted that Laos will officially graduate from the group of least developed countries (LDCs) in late 2026 and undergo a three-year transition period through 2029, while pursuing policies to build an independent and self-reliant economy.
Against this backdrop, Laos calls on friends and the international community to continue cooperating with and supporting the country in navigating the transition smoothly and sustainably. In particular, Laos hopes its Vietnamese counterparts will continue to cooperate with and support the country under the cooperation frameworks agreed by the senior leaders of the two Parties and States.
The official said the visit will make an important contribution to activities marking the 2027 Laos-Vietnam, Vietnam-Laos Year of Friendship and Solidarity, toward the 65th anniversary of diplomatic ties (September 5, 1962 - September 5, 2027) and the 50th founding anniversary of the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (July 18, 1977 - 2027). It will help turn the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and strategic cohesion between the two Parties, States and peoples into practical benefits for the people of both countries.- (VNA/VLLF)
