Minister-Head of the Lao Prime Minister’s Office Alounxai Sounnalath (centre) welcomed the Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính to Laos. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính arrived in Laos on Tuesday evening to attend the fourth Mekong River Commission (MRC) Summit slated for the next day.

The PM's attendance at the Summit is made at the invitation of Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone.

The Vietnamese PM’s entourage includes Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Lê Minh Hoan, Deputy Minister of Public Securities Nguyễn Duy Ngọc, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Đỗ Hùng Việt, and Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Lê Công Thành, among other officials.

The summit, themed “'Innovation and Cooperation for a Water Secure and Sustainable Mekong”, will be attended by the Prime Ministers of the MRC member countries – Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Việt Nam, and representatives of the MRC’s dialogue partners – China and Myanmar, its 12 development partners, and international organisations within and outside the Mekong region.

Along with attending and delivering a keynote speech at the plenary session of the summit, PM Chính is also expected to have bilateral and multilateral meetings with representatives of member countries of the Mekong River Commission.

The event aims at affirming the four member countries’ highest political commitment to enhancing the effective implementation of the 1995 Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River basin. Orientations for development and management of the Mekong River basin will be put forth and plans adopted for the implementation of the Basin Development Strategy for the Lower Mekong Basin 2021–2030. —  VNS