National Assembly Permanent Vice Chairwoman Tòng Thị Phóng (r) receives Laos news agency Khaosan Pathet Lao (KPL) General Director Sounthone Khanthavong in Hà Nội on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – National Assembly Permanent Vice Chairwoman Tòng Thị Phóng hosted a reception for a visiting delegation from the Laos news agency Khaosan Pathet Lao (KPL) led by its General Director Sounthone Khanthavong in Hà Nội on Tuesday.

The official, who is also a Politburo member, lauded the visit amidst the growing ties between Việt Nam and Laos. She noted that many friendship visits had been made by high-ranking leaders from both sides over the years, which affirmed the two countries’ commitment to promoting bilateral relations.

Expressing her delight at the sound partnership between the Vietnam News Agency and the KPL, Phóng asked the two agencies to provide accurate and timely information to local media outlets, while highlighting policies in each country as well as the Việt Nam-Laos traditional friendship to international friends.

Stressing that the VNA was a strategic and trustworthy news centre of the Party and State with various media outlets, she expressed her hope that it would continue supporting and exchanging experiences with the KPL.

Phóng said she believed the VNA and KPL would continue to reform and effectively implement their co-operation, promoting their role as major media agencies of each country and contributing to strengthening the special relationship between the two peoples.

For his part, Khanthavong spoke highly of the VNA’s support and co-operation with the KPL in all fields, including technical infrastructure, equipment and information exchange.

Currently, the KPL is facing difficulties in personnel training, with fewer reporters and editors fluent in Vietnamese, the Lao official said, expressing his hope that the Vietnamese NA would pay more attention to the matter and provide more long-term scholarships to officials from the KPL.

Earlier the same day, VNA General Director Nguyễn Đức Lợi held talks with the visiting KPL leader, during which the two sides briefed each other of their operations and progress and reviewed bilateral co-operation activities.

The VNA had supported the KPL with technical infrastructure projects, including a working network and modern film studio which had helped improve the quality and effectiveness of KPL’s operations, they noted.

The two sides agreed to continue enhancing the quality of information exchanges on the special co-operation between Việt Nam and Laos, while increasing the number of copies of the print publication in the Lao language of Vietnam Pictorial to 1,500 per month in 2019.

The KPL will continue assisting VNA correspondents in Vientiane to complete their tasks, while the VNA will maintain its support for the KPL in technical infrastructure development by equipment provision and technology transfer.

During their stay in Việt Nam, the KPL delegation will attend a ceremony to present the Isala Order and the Labour Order of Laos to individuals and collectives from the VNA. They will visit the Việt Nam-Laos revolutionary relic site, the Mộc Châu Milk Plant in Sơn La Province, the Nghi Sơn Economic Zone and the Hồ Dynasty Citadel in Thanh Hóa Province. — VNS