Vietnam and Laos signed an agreement on economic, commercial, cultural and scientific-technological cooperation for 2007 at the 29th working session of the Vietnam-Laos Cooperation Committee which closed in Hanoi on January 7.
The agreement was signed by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung and his Lao counterpart Somsavat Lengsavad.
Mr Hung appraised the achievements made by Vietnam and Laos in 2006, saying that the two countries should boost mutually-beneficial cooperation, particularly in such areas as electricity, mining, post and telecommunications, transport and banking services as well as developing border gates to facilitate bilateral trade exchanges.
He proposed that the two countries raise two-way trade to US$1 billion and US$2 billion by 2010 and 2015 respectively from the current figure of US$240 million.
Mr Hung also stressed that businesses of the two countries should cooperate closely in carrying out a project to plant 100,000ha of rubber trees in Laos by 2010.
For his part, Mr Lengsavad highly valued Vietnam's assistance to Laos in training cadres and developing infrastructure, irrigation system and livestock breeding, thus helping Laos develop its agriculture and ensure food security.
