Businesses expect fresh momentum in Vietnam – Laos economic cooperation
The Vietnamese business community in Laos has shown their expectation that the state visit to Laos by Party General Secretary To Lam on February 5, at the invitation of General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, will generate new, stronger, more substantive momentum for bilateral economic cooperation.
Pham Thi Minh Huong, a Vietnamese entrepreneur in Laos, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the General Association of Vietnamese People in Laos and Vice President of the Business Association of Overseas Vietnamese, expressed confidence that the visit will further consolidate the foundation of political and strategic trust between the two countries.
This, she said, will create fresh impetus for economic, investment and trade partnerships while promoting more substantive collaboration in policies, legal frameworks and the investment environment. Such progress will help unlock resources, remove bottlenecks and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese and Lao enterprises to pursue long-term, stable and sustainable investment.
She stressed that for the Vietnamese business community in Laos, the visit by General Secretary Lam is not merely a high-level diplomatic event, but also a clear message of the Vietnamese Party and State’s attention to and support for businesses. This will help reinforce confidence and provide fresh motivation for Vietnamese enterprises in Laos to expand investment, enhance the quality of cooperation and make more practical contributions to the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and strategic cohesion between the two countries.
From the perspective of enterprises directly operating in Laos, Hoang Van Quan, Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese Business Association in Laos, expressed his hope that the visit will inject new momentum and promote substantive economic cooperation. He expected the strategic orientations emerging from the visit to help thoroughly address administrative barriers, create a more open legal corridor, and strengthen bilateral connectivity through infrastructure projects and digital transformation.
He also emphasised that supporting Laos in strengthening its internal economic capacity is a key factor for the sustainable development of Vietnamese businesses, voicing confidence that the visit’s outcomes will serve as a lever to realise major cooperation plans in tandem with the “one-of-a-kind” special political relationship between the two nations.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, Chief of the Office of the Vietnamese People Association in Vientiane, showed similar expectations, saying the Vietnamese business community in Laos hope the visit will generate a new impetus for bilateral economic ties. She noted that businesses are keen that the two countries will enhance strategic discussions to resolve institutional and policy bottlenecks, thereby building a more transparent and stable investment environment.
In particular, they hope the visit will open up concrete cooperation opportunities in complementary fields such as clean agriculture, energy, infrastructure and digital transformation, enabling Vietnamese businesses to invest with confidence, contribute meaningfully to Laos’ development and further deepen the special relationship between the two countries, she stated.