General Secretary, President To Lam welcomes Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone
WVR - On the afternoon of June 9, at the headquarters of the Party Central Committee, General Secretary and President To Lam warmly welcomed Politburo Member of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Sonexay Siphandone, who is leading a high-level Lao government delegation on an official visit to Vietnam and attending the 3rd ASEAN Future Forum.
Latest
 |
| General Secretary, President To Lam welcomes Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone. (Source: VNA) |
General Secretary and President To Lam welcomed Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and the high-level Lao government delegation on their official visit to Vietnam and participation in the 2026 ASEAN Future Forum. He highly appreciated the significance of Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone's first official visit to Vietnam since the 12th Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, which plays a crucial role in strengthening the special Vietnam-Laos relationship, enhancing political trust, maintaining effective high-level contact mechanisms, and concretizing high-level commitments and agreements between the two Parties and countries into substantive cooperation programs, creating new momentum for bilateral relations.
General Secretary and President To Lam commended Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone for attending and speaking at the opening session of the 3rd ASEAN Forum alongside the Prime Ministers of Cambodia, Thailand, and Timor-Leste. This not only contributed to the overall success of the Forum but also strongly demonstrated the ASEAN solidarity and the special strategic solidarity between Vietnam and Laos.
General Secretary and President To Lam congratulated the comprehensive and significant achievements of the Lao Party, State, and people in recent times. He expressed confidence that under the wise leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, headed by General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith, and the decisive governance of the government led by Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, the Lao people will successfully implement the 12th Party Congress Resolution and the 10th National Socio-Economic Development Plan, building a peaceful, stable, unified, and prosperous Laos, aiming towards the 100th anniversary of the Party's founding.
 |
| General Secretary, President To Lam congratulates the comprehensive and significant achievements of the Lao Party, State, and people. (Source: VNA) |
General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed that the Party, State, and people of Vietnam always strongly support Laos' renovation efforts. He shared the difficulties currently faced by Laos and stated that Vietnam will continue to support Laos to stabilize its macroeconomy, enhance governance capacity, and achieve sustainable development.
Expressing delight at the excellent development of Vietnam-Laos cooperation, General Secretary and President To Lam praised the close coordination between the two governments in implementing high-level agreements, the outcomes of the 48th session of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee, and achieving positive results across all fields, including politics, foreign affairs, security, defense, economy, trade, investment, culture, education, and local cooperation. He noted that both sides have maintained effective cooperation mechanisms, actively resolving challenges in bilateral cooperation.
General Secretary and President To Lam proposed that both countries continue to strengthen political trust, maintain high-level exchanges across all channels, share strategic issues, and effectively coordinate to concretize strategic connectivity in all fields. He emphasized maintaining high-trust cooperation in security and defense, promoting practical and effective economic cooperation to become a real pillar in Vietnam-Laos relations, innovating cooperation methods in education and human resource development, and expanding effective local cooperation with diverse forms.
General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized that in cooperation, both sides should transition from good cooperation to effective cooperation, concretizing commitments into tangible results, with the practical effectiveness and benefits of the people of both countries as the highest measure. He suggested regularly reviewing the cooperation situation and setting directions for each phase.
Regarding specific projects and cooperation content, General Secretary and President To Lam proposed prioritizing strategic cooperation projects in transportation, energy, agriculture, and digital transformation, especially projects like the development of Vung Ang port, Hanoi-Vientiane expressway, and Vung Ang-Vientiane railway to meet the trade needs of both countries and support Lao goods in reaching regional and global markets. He also suggested reforming border procedures, continuing local currency payments to facilitate travel, tourism, trade, and investment, and focusing on resolving existing issues to propose new cooperation content suitable to each country's conditions and capabilities.
Based on the traditional solidarity between Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, General Secretary and President To Lam proposed that both sides continue to closely coordinate with Cambodia to preserve and nurture the solidarity among the three nations. He also suggested effectively implementing the Action Plan connecting the economies of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam by 2030, contributing to enhancing connectivity, expanding development space, and promoting sustainable growth in the region.
 |
| Overview of the reception. (Source: VNA) |
Expressing his pleasure at meeting General Secretary and President To Lam again, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone sincerely thanked the Vietnamese Party, State, Government, and people for their warm and thoughtful reception during his official visit to Vietnam and participation in the ASEAN Forum. He conveyed the warm and brotherly greetings from General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith and other senior Lao leaders to General Secretary and President To Lam and the Vietnamese people.
On behalf of the Lao Party, Government, and people, Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone sincerely congratulated the great and comprehensive achievements of the Vietnamese people under the wise leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, headed by General Secretary To Lam. He emphasized that these achievements have helped Vietnam maintain political stability, ensure security and social order, and achieve continuous high economic growth. He expressed confidence that from this year, Vietnam's economy will achieve double-digit growth, continuously improving the people's living standards and enhancing Vietnam's role and position in the region and internationally. He noted that Vietnam's achievements continue to be a significant motivation for Laos to address its current economic challenges.
Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone informed General Secretary and President To Lam about the results of his talks with Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, reaching important agreements for future bilateral cooperation, including concretizing the strategic connectivity between Vietnam and Laos in all fields. He thanked General Secretary and President To Lam for his close guidance to the Vietnamese government in coordinating with Laos to implement high-level agreements, achieving the set goals in the first half of the year. Vietnam remains one of the leading foreign investors in Laos with 289 projects worth a total of 6.6 billion USD, and bilateral trade in the first quarter of 2026 reached over 1.2 billion USD.
The two governments will continue to work closely to increase bilateral trade to 10 billion USD in the next five years.
Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone expressed deep gratitude for the significant, timely, and effective support that Vietnam has provided to Laos over the years, affirming that the Lao Party, State, and people will do their utmost to preserve and nurture the special Laos-Vietnam relationship.
 |
| Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone sincerely congratulates the great and comprehensive achievements of the Vietnamese people. (Source: VNA) |
Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone fully agreed with the cooperation orientations proposed by General Secretary and President To Lam. He affirmed that the Lao Government will closely coordinate with Vietnam to effectively implement key cooperation projects, resolve difficulties for businesses in both countries, and create significant progress in economic cooperation commensurate with the special political relationship between the two countries. He emphasized maintaining solidarity among the peoples of Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and continuing mutual support in regional and international multilateral forums, especially in ASEAN, the United Nations, and the Mekong Sub-region cooperation mechanisms.
The two leaders agreed to closely coordinate in planning and organizing activities to commemorate the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-Laos, Laos-Vietnam Friendship and Cooperation Treaty in 2027 with practical, and in-depth content, thereby continuing to strongly spread the historical value and contemporary significance of the special Vietnam-Laos relationship to all people, especially the younger generations of both countries.
On this occasion, through Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, General Secretary and President To Lam sent warm and brotherly greetings to General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith and other senior and former senior Lao leaders.
