During the meeting with Minister Somboukhanh, who is also Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, PM Dung affirmed that Vietnam always attaches great importance to its ties with Laos. He said the Vietnamese government will create the best possible conditions to effectively implement cooperative agreements between the two Government Offices.

Mr Dung stressed that both sides need to work out concrete orientations for bilateral cooperation in economics, trade, investment, defence and security.

Meanwhile, Mr Somboukhanh said the five cooperative projects between the two Offices are essential to the Lao government, especially during the current period, which requires modern technologies.

** The same day, Mr Somboukhanh had a meeting with Minister, Head of the Vietnamese Government Office, Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

During this meeting, the Lao official said his delegation’s visit aimed to promote the implementation of the cooperation agreements signed by the two governments in March 2010.

The two officials reviewed each country’s socioeconomic growth and the cooperation between the two governmental offices in 2010 and early 2011.

The two sides agreed on five tasks for the future, including creating a database for cadres at the two offices, increasing the Lao Office’s capacity to manage and advise, and designing an administrative management system for the Lao government.

Regarding construction of the Sayaburi hydroelectric power dam, Mr Phuc and Mr Somboukhanh agreed that the Mekong is a shared river that benefits many countries, therefore all construction projects on the river must take into account their economic, environmental and social impacts.

Also on the occasion, the two ministers signed a memorandum-of-understanding between the Government Offices of Vietnam and Laos.