Vietnam, Lao leaders hold talks to promote great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic connectivity
WVR - Building on the tradition of special solidarity, Vietnam and Laos have agreed to deepen bilateral relations by incorporating new elements: “Great Friendship, Special Solidarity, Comprehensive Cooperation, Strategic Connectivity”.
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| General Secretary, President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith presides over the welcome ceremony for General Secretary To Lam. (Photo: Nguyen Hong) |
At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith and his spouse, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his spouse led a high-level delegation from the Party and State of Vietnam on a state visit to Laos and attended the 50th National Day celebrations of Laos from December 1-2.
This state visit to Laos by General Secretary To Lam marks his first visit in his capacity as General Secretary; it brings the warm solidarity, friendship, and trust of the Vietnamese people, affirming the comprehensive support of the Party, State, and people of Vietnam for the renewal, protection, and construction of Laos.
On the morning of December 1, following the solemn welcome ceremony for General Secretary To Lam and his spouse, along with the high-level delegation from the Party and State of Vietnam at the Presidential Palace, conducted with the highest honours for a head of state, General Secretary To Lam held talks with General Secretary, President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith.
General Secretary, President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith warmly welcomed General Secretary To Lam and the high-level Vietnamese delegation on their state visit to Laos; he highly valued the significant meaning of the visit, reflecting the importance the Party and State of Vietnam, as well as General Secretary To Lam personally, place on the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos. He emphasized that the presence of the General Secretary, his spouse, and the high-level delegation from the Party and State of Vietnam during Laos' grand celebration is an honor for the Party, State, and people of Laos, adding profound significance to the anniversary celebrations.
The General Secretary, President of Laos expressed gratitude to the Party, State, and people of Vietnam for their substantial support and assistance in the defense and construction of Laos; he highlighted the significant achievements of the Vietnamese people in the renewal process, continuously enhancing their international standing and reputation, providing valuable experiences for the Lao Party, State, and people in successfully implementing national defense and construction tasks.
The significant achievements of 40 years of renewal demonstrate the very correct development path of the Party and State of Vietnam and serve as a great encouragement and motivation for Laos. Thanking the Party and State of Vietnam for inviting participation in major Vietnamese celebrations, the General Secretary, President of Laos congratulated and highly appreciated the success of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South and national reunification, the 80th anniversary of the successful August Revolution, and National Day, fostering unity and consensus throughout the Party and people, reflecting the passionate patriotism of the Vietnamese people.
The General Secretary, President of Laos also congratulated Vietnam on successfully organizing multilateral events, especially the Opening Ceremony of the UN Convention on Cybercrime in Hanoi last October. General Secretary, President Thongloun Sisoulith highly appreciated the achievements in implementing the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the thorough preparations for the 14th National Party Congress of Vietnam.
On this occasion, the Party, State, and people of Laos shared their deep condolences for the significant losses suffered by the Vietnamese people during recent storms and floods and expressed readiness to support Vietnam in overcoming these challenges.
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| Laos accords the highest honours for a head of state to welcome General Secretary To Lam and his spouse. (Photo: Nguyen Hong) |
General Secretary To Lam expressed his joy at revisiting the beautiful country of Laos on the occasion of the 50th National Day of Laos and the 105th birth anniversary of President Kaysone Phomvihane. These are sacred events with historical, political, and humanitarian significance, providing an opportunity for both countries to reflect on the arduous yet glorious journey of the brotherly nation of Laos and the close-knit relationship between the two countries and peoples, affirming the independence, steadfastness, and eternal solidarity of the Lao people.
General Secretary To Lam sincerely thanked General Secretary, President of Laos, and the Lao leaders for their warm and respectful reception, reflecting the close-knit relationship between the two Parties, States, and peoples.
This visit to Laos by General Secretary To Lam once again affirms Vietnam's consistent foreign policy of prioritizing the special solidarity with Laos. It is also an opportunity for both countries to reaffirm their commitment to building a new vision, elevating Vietnam-Laos relations to a new level of development with increasing trust, paving the way for breakthroughs in cooperation across all fields.
General Secretary To Lam warmly congratulated the significant, historically meaningful achievements of the brotherly Lao people after 50 years of nation-building and 40 years of renewal, clearly demonstrating the leadership role of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party in policy direction, party building, and organizational restructuring; maintaining a steady GDP growth rate, significantly improving the people's living standards; ensuring national defense and security, and expanding foreign relations. Successfully chairing ASEAN three times and many other high-level conferences has clearly affirmed the prestige and position of the Lao PDR in the region and internationally.
The head of the Communist Party of Vietnam expressed deep gratitude to the Lao Party, State, and people for their sincere support and assistance during Vietnam's national liberation struggle and in the current national construction and defense efforts. General Secretary To Lam expressed confidence that with determination, steadfastness, and 40 years of renewal experience, under the wise leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, led by Comrade Thongloun Sisoulith, the brotherly nation of Laos will successfully achieve the goals set by the 11th Party Congress and successfully organize the 12th Party Congress, confidently stepping into a new era.
During the talks, the leaders of the two countries exchanged extensive views on the situation in each country. General Secretary To Lam informed about Vietnam's comprehensive development, including the comprehensive, thorough, and synchronized streamlining of the political system nationwide.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the increasingly deep, practical, and effective development of the special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, contributing significantly to maintaining political stability, national defense, security, and socio-economic development in each country. They consider this a development rule and an important factor ensuring the success of national construction and defense in each country. The cooperative relationship between the Party committees, government ministries, National Assembly agencies, fronts, mass organizations, and localities of the two countries continues to be strengthened. Cooperation between localities, especially border provinces, is increasingly expanding to ensure border security and order.
Evaluating the close, trustworthy political relationship between the two countries, which is continuously strengthened through regular high-level and other exchanges, along with the effective operation of many cooperation mechanisms in various fields, both sides agreed to effectively implement the High-Level Agreements and Plans, especially the results of the 2025 High-Level Meeting between the two Parties and the third meeting between the three leaders of the Parties of Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia.
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| General Secretary To Lam holds talks with General Secretary, President of Laos. (Photo: Nguyen Hong) |
Both sides agreed to effectively utilize cooperation mechanisms, deepening the relations between the two Parties and countries through existing cooperation mechanisms, high-level visits, and exchanges in flexible forms, information, ideological platforms, strategic policies, and theoretical exchanges, especially on new issues; closely coordinating to support the organization of important events in both countries, initially the Party Congresses of each country, thereby continuing to affirm the new heights of Vietnam-Laos political relations.
Both sides agreed to continue to promote and innovate the content and form of propaganda and education on the historical tradition of the special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos for officials, Party members, the people, and the younger generation of both countries; to inspire pride, responsibility, and awareness in preserving and promoting the faithful, transparent, strategic relationship between the two Parties and peoples.
Building on the tradition of special solidarity, both sides agreed to deepen bilateral relations by incorporating new elements: “Great Friendship, Special Solidarity, Comprehensive Cooperation, Strategic Connectivity”. This affirms the shared vision, intertwined strategic interests, and long-term companionship for the sustainable, resilient, and prosperous development of both nations.
The two leaders emphasized that defense and security cooperation between the two countries is increasingly close and effective, serving as an important pillar in the bilateral relationship, continuing to make new developments, going deeper and more effectively, with very positive results in cooperation in these fields; building a stable, sustainable border between the two countries. Both sides agreed to continue to strengthen defense and security cooperation, closely coordinate and support each other in responding to increasingly diverse and complex security challenges; linking security and defense with socio-economic development.
Both sides also agreed to enhance strong economic, infrastructure, banking-finance, and tourism connectivity between the two countries, implementing effective measures to strive to increase trade turnover to 5 billion USD in the near future and towards 10 billion USD in the future, linked with strengthening transportation, energy, and logistics infrastructure connectivity; enhancing macroeconomic management experience exchange, and anti-corruption efforts. Both sides agreed to promote the implementation of agreements to support each other in building an independent and self-reliant economy, enhancing macroeconomic management experience exchange, and institutional reform; closely coordinating to resolve bottlenecks, facilitating Vietnamese enterprises to effectively implement and expand investment projects in Laos, making practical contributions to Laos' socio-economic development; regularly coordinating to inspect and urge the implementation of projects using aid funds, ensuring progress, effectiveness, and quality.
The two leaders agreed to strongly promote and create breakthroughs in economic, cultural, and scientific-technical cooperation; agreed to promote connectivity in electricity, telecommunications, and tourism transportation; continue to improve the quality of education, training, and human resource development, focusing on training high-quality human resources; promoting people-to-people exchanges and between localities, considering this a strategic pillar contributing to strengthening the close bonds and consolidating the sustainable, long-term solidarity foundation between the two peoples.
The two leaders affirmed that in the context of profound, rapid, and complex global changes, there are many opportunities as well as challenges for the stability and development of both countries, both sides maintain effective information on the international situation, care for, and support each other in multilateral and ASEAN forums; protecting each other's legitimate interests in accordance with international law, including the South China Sea issue affecting peace, stability, and cooperation in the region and the world.
At the end of the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of 12 important cooperation documents between ministries, sectors, localities, and relevant agencies of the two countries in key areas including defense, security, health, justice, education-training, finance-banking, strategic infrastructure, creating a legal foundation and new momentum to further develop the Vietnam-Laos cooperation relationship in depth, substance, and effectiveness in the new phase.
General Secretary To Lam extended a respectful invitation to General Secretary, President Thongloun Sisoulith and his spouse to visit Vietnam at a convenient time.
General Secretary, President Thongloun Sisoulith sincerely thanked and gladly accepted the invitation.
