Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone speaks at the opening session of the third ASEAN Future Forum in Hà Nội on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone departed Hà Nội on Tuesday night, concluding his official visit to Việt Nam and participation in the third ASEAN Future Forum (AFF) 2026 from June 7 - 9, at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng.

During his trip, PM Sonexay and the high-level Lao delegation visited the Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum and laid a wreath at the Monument to the Heroes and Martyrs on Bắc Sơn street, Hà Nội.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and State President Tô Lâm received PM Sonexay, while PM Hưng presided over the official welcome ceremony and held talks with PM Sonexay, and National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn also met with the Lao PM.

During the meetings and talks, the Vietnamese leaders welcomed PM Sonexay and the Lao Government's high-level delegation on their official visit to Việt Nam and their participation in the ASEAN Future Forum 2026.

They highly appreciated the first official visit of PM Sonexay to Việt Nam since the 12th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, considering it extremely important in consolidating the special Việt Nam-Laos relationship, strengthening political trust, maintaining the effectiveness of high-level contact mechanisms, concretising high-level commitments and agreements between the two Parties and countries into substantive cooperation programmes, and creating new momentum for the bilateral relations.

The Vietnamese leaders also highly appreciated the participation and speeches of the Lao PM, along with the PMs of Cambodia, Thailand, and Timor-Leste, at the opening session of the third ASEAN Future Forum.

This not only contributed to the overall success of the forum but also strongly demonstrated the spirit of ASEAN solidarity and the special strategic bond between Việt Nam and Laos.

PM Sonexay sincerely thanked the leaders of the Party, State, Government and people of Việt Nam for their warm and thoughtful reception during his official visit to Việt Nam and participation in this ASEAN Future Forum.

The leaders of the two countries exchanged views and agreed on extremely important contents for bilateral cooperation in the coming period, including concretising the content of the strategic cohesion between Việt Nam and Laos in all fields; and continuing efforts to cooperate closely to increase bilateral trade to US$10 billion in the next five years.

They also agreed to closely coordinate in developing plans and organising activities to commemorate the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Việt Nam-Laos, Laos-Việt Nam Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 2027.

On the occasion, the PMs of Việt Nam and Laos witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation documents between ministries and agencies of the two countries.

Attending and speaking at the opening session of the ASEAN Future Forum 2026, PM Sonexay shared his vision for the future of ASEAN and proposed a roadmap including four major strategic directions, under which he emphasised the essential need to promote comprehensive integration and connectivity within ASEAN, encompassing land, waterway, sea and air transport as well as energy networks, logistics systems and related infrastructure.

During the visit, Madame Vandara Siphandone, spouse of the Lao PM, along with Madame Đào Thị Bích Thủy, spouse of the Vietnamese PM; Madame Pich Chamony, spouse of the Cambodian PM; and Madame Thananon Niramit, spouse of the Thai PM, visited and participated in cultural exchange activities at the Temple of Literature in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS