HÀ NỘI – Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said Việt Nam is committed to accelerating friendship and is ready to share development experiences with Laos.

While receiving Laos’ Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Somdy Douangdy in Hà Nội yesterday, the PM said “Although Việt Nam is still developing, the Party, State and Vietnamese people always do their utmost to further promote the special friendship between the two countries.”

“Việt Nam is willing to share all experiences in the national development cause with Laos.”

“Potential for mutual co-operation remains huge, especially in trade and investment. I would call for you to pay heed to assisting Vietnamese enterprises in Laos, considering them as a sector of the country’s economy and have proper assistance policies in tax and fees,” the Prime Minister added.

“Without enterprises, production and business activities will stand still and there will be no resources for national budget, job generation and GDP growth.

“Thus, the State should provide the most favourable business environment for economic sectors and for foreign investment to thrive.”

PM Phúc reiterated that the Vietnamese Government would actively support enterprises doing business in Laos and called for the two sides to lift all existing difficulties and obstacles to boost bilateral trade

“Việt Nam is considering developing a number of key traffic infrastructure projects connecting Việt Nam – Laos economies,” PM Phúc said.

The Government leader informed the guest that he will assign a Government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Trịnh Đình Dũng to visit Laos to seek ways to intensify bilateral co-operation in numerous fields, especially in energy.

Earlier during a meeting with Douangdy, Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ suggested that the Vietnamese and Lao finance ministries enhance collaboration.

He hailed the two ministries for signing a co-operation agreement for 2016-2020, which maps out important orientations in bilateral co-operation.
The deputy PM proposed that the two sides increase high-level delegation exchanges to share experiences on the macro-economic situation and fiscal policy in their respective countries. In particular, the two nations should focus on the handling of budget expenditures, establishment of legal systems and economic institutions, and training of financial officials, he said.
Deputy PM Douangdy said his visit aims to discuss co-operation plans that the two ministries signed in April.
He highlighted the economic, financial and budget situation in Laos and thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance for its assistance in past years.
He also expressed his wish to receive more support from his Vietnamese counterpart to improve the capacities of Lao financial staff.

While reviewing co-operation between the two finance ministries in past years during their discussion yesterday, deputy PM Douangdy and Việt Nam’s finance minister Đinh Tiến Dũng held that the partnership has been fruitful, especially in policy-making, personnel and sectoral training, and infrastructure improvements.

Minister Dũng shared Việt Nam’s experiences in the management of budget expenses and implementation of the Law on State Budget in 2015, as well as budget collection management and budget decentralisation.

He also shared lessons in managing import and export budget collection, preventing smuggling, operating the one-stop-shop mechanism and applying information technology to governing activities of the finance ministry and its affiliates.

Lao PM calls for more investment

Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has said his country wants more Vietnamese investment in consumer goods production and timber processing to diversify the trading portfolio between the two sides.

At the meeting with Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Trần Tuấn Anh yesterday on the sidelines of the 48th ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting, the Lao leader asked his guest to ensure the progress of Việt Nam’s hydropower and mining projects in his country, while promoting the use of the East-West Economic Corridor, which traverses Việt Nam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, to augment bilateral trade.

The application of the one-stop-shop model at Việt Nam’s Lao Bảo Border Gate and its Lao counterpart Densavanh also needs to be reviewed to extend this model to their other ports of entry, he said.

Anh said his ministry has strongly bolstered industry and trade co-operation with Laos and reaped encouraging outcomes, including the issuance of a circular guiding the implementation of the countries’ border trade agreement so as to soon put the deal’s special incentives into practice.

The ministry has also held a series of workshops to popularise the Việt Nam – Laos Trade Agreement and the border trade pact. — VNS