PM Chinh’s visit expected to give fresh impetus to Vietnam-Laos ties

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese government delegation, will visit Laos and co-chair the 47th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee from January 9-10, at the invitation of Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone,

The visit is expected to give fresh impetus to strengthening and nurturing the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Minh Tam.

On this occasion, Ambassador Nguyen Minh Tam discussed with the media the significance and importance of the visit, as well as the vital role of the Vietnam-Laos special relations in the socio-economic development of both nations.

According to the Vietnamese diplomat, the visit by PM Pham Minh Chinh, which coincides with the beginning of 2025, holds great significance for both countries. It demonstrates the proactive efforts of Vietnam and Laos in implementing the agreements reached by their senior leaders, which have already yielded tangible results.

Firstly, this is the first overseas visit by a key Vietnamese leader and the first foreign leader Laos will host in 2025. It underscores the special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos and reaffirms Vietnam’s policy of prioritizing and deepening its relations with the neighbouring country in the new context.

Secondly, during the 47th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee, both sides will review the implementation of the 2024 Vietnam-Laos cooperation agreement across multiple fields and agree on collaboration directions for 2025. Discussions will focus on political relations, diplomacy, defence-security cooperation, economic ties, education and workforce development, and other areas of mutual interest.

Both sides will delve into measures to enhance the effectiveness of their cooperation, particularly in economy, trade, and investment. These efforts aim to foster mutual development, strengthen resilience to geopolitical competition, and promote sustainable socio-economic growth. On this occasion, the two sides will organize the Vietnam-Laos Investment Cooperation Conference, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Laos-Vietnam Friendship Park, and witness the signing of key cooperation agreements.

"Thirdly, the visit aims to strengthen economic connectivity, particularly in areas such as institutional frameworks, financial and monetary systems, transport infrastructure, as well as energy, telecommunications, agriculture, business, tourism, and digital transformation.

This will enhance both nations' resilience to economic and geopolitical fluctuations while leveraging new global trends to drive development.

Fourthly, the Vietnam-Laos relationship plays a crucial role in maintaining peace, stability, cooperation, and development in Southeast Asia and globally. Therefore, enhancing bilateral cooperation will contribute to strengthening and elevating the role and position of each country, as well as their unified voice in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and regional forums, thereby promoting solidarity and consensus in the new context."

Finally, the visit demonstrates the political determination of senior leaders of both parties and countries to continuously deepen and nurture the Vietnam-Laos special solidarity, making it increasingly profound, practical, and effective across all fields in the face of regional and global challenges. This is viewed as a guiding principle for the sustainable and stable development of both countries in the future.

Ambassador Nguyen Minh Tam emphasized that the effective organization, implementation, and implementation of agreements between the high-level leaders of both parties and states, as well as joint statements, government cooperation agreements, and partnership programs between ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses, hold great importance in ensuring the sustainable development of both nations.

To achieve this, first and foremost, the ministries, departments, and local authorities of both countries need to have a deep, full, and profound understanding of the great significance and value of the Vietnam-Laos special relationship, and recognize that the solidarity and mutual assistance between the two parties and countries is an objective factor, a historical law, and one of the greatest sources of strength, and of vital significance to the cause of national construction and defence of each country.

Regarding the fields requiring enhanced cooperation for mutual development, Tam stated that both sides should maintain and improve the effectiveness of existing mechanisms, review and establish new cooperative frameworks, and closely coordinate on issues concerning the security and development of each country. Strengthening information exchange and experience-sharing in party-building, political system development, socio-economic progress, macroeconomic stability, national defense-security, and international integration are also essential.

He also stressed the need to coordinate well in preparing for high-level visits in 2025 and celebrating major holidays and important events in 2025.

Tam suggested further deepening the pillar of defense-security cooperation, ensuring a solid foundation for each other to deal with increasingly diverse and complex security challenges as a contribution to maintaining political stability and social order and safety in each country, especially building a peaceful, friendly, stable, cooperative and mutually developing border between the two countries.

Additionally, both sides must focus on breakthroughs in the implementation of the Vietnam-Laos Strategic Cooperation Agreement (2021-2030) and the Vietnam-Laos Bilateral Cooperation Agreement (2021-2025).

Cooperation will focus on building independent and resilient economies through initiatives in trade, investment, transportation infrastructure, energy (clean and renewable energy), finance, technology, agriculture, mining, and tourism. Businesses from Vietnam are encouraged to invest in Laos, particularly in areas like energy, digital transformation, technology, agriculture, mining, clean and renewable energy, and tourism, the diplomat emphasized.

It is crucial to strengthen the responsibility, proactivity, supervision, and progress tracking of projects to ensure agreements are quickly realized, bringing practical benefits to the people, businesses of both countries.

Furthermore, both countries should continue to step up cultural and educational cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. Strengthening education and public awareness about the great friendship between Vietnam and Laos, particularly among younger generations, is vital to preserving and promoting this unique relationship, he went on.

Ambassador Tam concluded that such comprehensive and effective efforts will ensure that the Vietnam-Laos relationship remains a cornerstone of both countries' development paths.