President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (left) and Chairman of the Lao National Assembly Saysomphone Phomvihane. VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — State President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc held a meeting with Chairman of the Lao National Assembly Saysomphone Phomvihane in Vientiane, Laos, on Tuesday.

PM Phúc also attended and spoke at the 9th National Assembly (NA) of Laos. He is the first foreign leader to speak at the new Lao National Assembly House exactly 10 years after the speech by Nguyễn Phú Trọng, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam and the then-Chairman of the National Assembly of Việt Nam in 2011. 

Expressing the honour, President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said there were few bilateral relationships in the world like the one between Việt Nam and Laos, which have supported each other over the years. He emphasised the relations between the nations’ founding fathers and comrades.

The President said that "in the hearts of each Vietnamese and Laotian citizen, the special relationship between Việt Nam and Laos is always strong, as stated by His Royal Highness and President Souphanouvong: 'Higher than the mountain, longer than the river, wider than the sea, more beautiful than the full moon, more fragrant than any flower'.”

Phúc expressed his appreciation when witnessing the great achievements of the Laotian people after 46 years of national construction and 35 years of conducting renovation work under the leadership of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

The President also expressed his pleasure that over the years, cooperation between the two countries in all fields from politics, foreign affairs, defence, security, economy, culture and society had been increasingly expanded, bringing benefits to the two peoples. 

Many practical cooperation projects between the two countries on telecommunications networks, transportation, hydropower, rubber plantations, coffee, schools and hospitals, had been completed and put into use in many remote regions and provinces of Laos. These had made an important contribution to socio-economic development and improving people's living standards in the country.

Phúc said that the political relations would continue to be the overall direction of the special relationship between Việt Nam and Laos. The support of the national assemblies of the two countries would be a solid legal foundation for the effective cooperation of the governments, the Fatherland Front, localities and social organisations, and businesses of the two countries. 

The two sides agreed that education, training and human resources development would be a strategic field of cooperation that serves the development needs of each country. 

Việt Nam is willing to expand its support to Laos in training human resources. Besides increasing the number of scholarships, the two sides need to work closely to improve the quality of enrolment, teaching and learning in order to better meet the needs of the Lao market, Phúc said.

“An important issue for the leaders of the two countries is to raise economic cooperation to a higher level to match the special friendship. We can't stay poor forever, we have to work together to get stronger and get richer,” Phúc said.

The State President also suggested that the two sides cooperate in transforming to a digital economy, developing e-commerce, digitising education, healthcare, finance and modern banking services. 

Chairman of the Lao National Assembly Saysomphone Phomvihane said the legislative bodies of the two countries would make efforts to strengthen cooperation, contributing to fostering the great friendship between Laos and Việt Nam, which had been built by generations of leaders.  VNS