Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính had a meeting with Thongloun Sisoulith, General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and President of Laos, ahead of their meeting in Vientiane on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

VIENTIANE — Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính had a meeting with Thongloun Sisoulith, General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and President of Laos, in Vientiane on Tuesday.

During the meeting, he congratulated Laos, the chair of ASEAN in 2024, on the successful organisation of the bloc’s important events.

PM Chính, who is in Vientiane to attend the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits, expressed his belief that with its thorough and professional preparations, along with experiences gained during its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2004 and 2016, Laos will successfully host the ASEAN Summits and the 45th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), thereby practically contributing to stable and sustainable development along with growth in the region and promoting its role and position in the international arena.

The Party, State, and people of Việt Nam always attach importance to and prioritise the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation with Laos, considering this as a priceless asset, an objective requirement, a leading priority, a top choice, and a vital factor of the revolutionary causes in the two countries that needs to be maintained for future generations, he noted.

The PM pledged to request Vietnamese ministries, sectors, and localities to closely coordinate with their Lao counterparts to properly carry out the high-level agreements between the two nations, including the joint statement issued during the state visit to Việt Nam by the Lao top leader from September 10-13.

Sisoulith appreciated Việt Nam’s valuable material and spiritual assistance to Laos to address flood consequences. He also spoke highly of Việt Nam’s active support for Laos during the ASEAN Chairmanship 2024, attributing the success of Laos as ASEAN Chair partly to Vietnam’s contributions.

Both host and guest held that in the future, the two sides should focus on effectively implementing the two countries’ cooperation treaties and agreements, especially the outcomes of the recent meeting between the Vietnamese and Lao Political Bureaus in Hà Nội, and further enhancing the connectivity between the Vietnamese and Lao economies as well as among the Vietnamese, Laos and Cambodian economies.

The two countries will maintain frequent experience and information exchanges while keeping close coordination and mutual support at international and regional forums, especially ASEAN, the United Nations, and sub-regional mechanisms, they said.

Amid complicated developments in the region and the world, they affirmed that Việt Nam and Laos will press on with nurturing the “green and sustainable” bilateral relations and developing economic collaboration in an increasingly result-oriented and effective manner, and on par with the political relationship to better meet each country’s interests and development demand in the new period. — VNA/VNS