Mr Thongsing’s decision to choose Vietnam as his first country to visit after assuming the post of prime minister indicates that the Vietnam-Laos special relations have continued to grow and flourish.

For every Vietnamese people, they call Laos “a friendly country” with deep affection and respect from the bottom of their hearts while the Lao people treasure the word “Vietnam” with faith and reliability.

Vietnam and Laos have been living under the roof of Indochina, sharing the same mountains and rivers and many other things in common, experiencing the long struggles against foreign aggression and having strong aspirations for independence, freedom, democracy, justice and prosperity.

The people of the two countries have fond memories of sharing sacred things, blood and tears and essentials such as rice, salt, needles and threads. Their relationship is beautifully featured in literary works, music and art.

They are always grateful to the late President Ho Chi Minh and Lao King Suvanuvong for their great contributions to fostering the fraternal friendship.

These two great leaders set a shining example for generations of Party and State leaders and people from the two countries to follow.

The Vietnam-Laos special relationship has stood the test of time and continued to grow and flourish at different levels and in various fields, from politics to economics, culture and education.

Currently, Vietnam is one of the largest foreign investors in Laos with 252 projects at a total capitalization of US$2.8 billion. Two-way trade turnover between the two countries keeps increasing year by year with total imports and exports in 2010 reaching nearly US$500 million.

The presence of Lao students in Vietnam and Vietnamese students in Laos is also testimony to the time-honoured friendship between the two countries.

Laos achieved a relatively high and steady economic growth of 7.9 percent in 2010 with per capita income of US$986, a six-fold increase within 20 years. This shows that the two countries will soon become strong economic partners.

Preserving and nurturing the Vietnam-Laos special relationship is the responsibility of the two countries for mutual benefit and prosperity.