Laos is a faithful friend and comrade and a close neighbour of Vietnam. Both countries back onto the imposing Truong Son Mountain Range, share the Mekong River and treasure their time-honoured tradition.
It is not by chance that State President Nguyen Minh Triet selected Laos as the first country to visit in his capacity as head of the Vietnamese State.
Personally, President Triet has paid due attention to consolidating and strengthening relations with Laos in whatever post he held, such as Secretary of the Song Be provincial Party Committee, the Binh Duong provincial Party Committee and the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee. He once said the relationship between Vietnam and Laos is “special of special”. Therefore, during the Lao visit this time, the Party, State and people of Laos granted a hospitable and warm welcome to Mr Triet, considering him a member of the family. Many senior State and local officials even cordially call him Comrade Sau Phong.
Laos is in the middle of the dry season with the scorching sun and unpleasant crisp winds, but Lao people took to streets to welcome Mr Triet wherever he travelled. The 8-km road from Xieng Khouang Airport to the provincial administrative headquarters was packed with local people standing along the two sides of the street to welcome him.
Among those people I met Kham Lum, a 10th grader who can speak a little Vietnamese. He said his mother used to study in Vietnam and taught him Vietnamese. He said he wants to learn Vietnamese so that he can help strengthen the friendship between the two nations.
During talks and meetings, Mr Triet and Laos leaders shared the view that feelings that the two countries’ people grant each other are boundless and inseparable. Mr Triet noted that during the past resistance wars against colonialists and imperialists, the two nations had joined efforts in overcoming all difficulties and challenges to lead their revolutionary cause to the final victory and achieve national reunification. At present, he said, Vietnam, with its advantages, must help Laos in its national development.
Knowing that Laos is preparing to apply for WTO membership, President Triet assured Lao leaders that Vietnam will exempt Laos from bilateral negotiations, share negotiation experience with and help the country finalise its legal system so that it can join the organisation at the earliest.
State President and Secretary General of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Chummaly Sayasone expressed hope that Laos will soon be Vietnam’s big trade partner with two-way trade value estimated to reach US$1 billion in 2010 and US$2 billion in 2015.
Despite a three-day visit, the Lao people’s warm welcome and hospitality left a deep impression on members of the Vietnamese delegation. At the farewell party for Mr Triet and his wife, the background wall of the hall was decorated with the images of Vietnam’s Mot Cot (One-Pillar) Pagoda and Laos’ Pha That Luang standing in parallel with white pigeons flying high in the blue sky. Lao artists sang songs in both Vietnamese and Lao in praise of the ever-lasting friendship between Vietnam and Laos.
Le Huy Nam
