Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc pledged yesterday that Viet Nam would continue backing Laos’s nation-building efforts in the face of all difficulties.

Top Lao leaders, including Party General Secretary and President Bounnhang Volachith, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and National Assembly Chairwoman Pany Yathotou, gathered in Vientiane yesterday to celebrate Laos-Việt Nam relationship.

Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc received ASEAN Secretary-General Lê Lương Minh and President of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) Hidetoshi Nishimura yesterday.

The Vietnamese and Japanese governments are discussing an action plan to improve implementation of their bilateral extensive strategic partnership, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said yesterday.

Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng yesterday called for comprehensive deepening of ties between Viet Nam and Laos in all areas, saying it would promote nation-building and security for both countries.

 A ceremony was held in Hanoi on July 18 to mark the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Laos and 40 years of the signing of the Việt Nam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. 

Việt Nam has pledged efforts to promote the application of information and communication technology (ICT) in poverty reduction and sustainable development, said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Thế Phương.

The relationship between Việt Nam and Laos has seen as a good sample of faithful friendship between the two countries over past century.

Former Cuban military officer Julio A. García Oliveras, who served as the first Cuban ambassador to Việt Nam, has died at the age of 86.