General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Tô Lâm (right) and Thongloun Sisoulith, General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and President of Laos, along with their spouses at the welcome ceremony in Hà Nội on January 26. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Tô Lâm and a high ranking Vietnamese delegation will pay a state visit to Laos on February 5, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The visit will be made at the invitation of Thongloun Sisoulith, General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee and President of Laos, the statement said.

The visit took place at a moment of great significance for both countries, as Laos has just successfully held the 12th National Congress of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, at which Thongloun Sisoulith was re-elected as General Secretary of the 12th Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party; Việt Nam has also just successfully organised the 14th National Congress of the Party, at which Tô Lâm was re-elected as General Secretary of the 14th-term Central Committee of the Party.

Laos' top leader was just in Hà Nội for a two-day visit (January 26-27) at the invitation of General Secretary Tô Lâm.

The Lao leader attended an official welcome ceremony held with the highest protocol accorded to a head of state at the Presidential Palace. He held talks with Party General Secretary Tô Lâm and had separate meetings with State President Lương Cường, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, and National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn.

During the talks, the two countries' leadership agreed that amid rapidly evolving, complex and unpredictable international and regional developments, it is particularly important for the two Parties and States to continue strengthening unity, close bonds, political trust and close coordination.

General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith’s decision to choose Việt Nam as the first country to visit immediately after the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party’s successful 12th National Congress carries profound political significance.

It continues to affirm the strong determination of the leaders and peoples of both countries to preserve, nurture and further develop the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and strategic interconnection, as well as the close, shoulder-to-shoulder bond between the two Parties, the two States and the peoples of the two countries throughout their shared struggle for independence and in the cause of national construction and development.— VNA/VNS