NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (right) talks to Vice President of the Lao National Assembly Bounpone Bouttanavong. VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

HÀ NỘI – Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân hosted a reception for Vice President of the Lao National Assembly Bounpone Bouttanavong in Hà Nội yesterday.
The host said the Vietnamese NA highly values Bounpone Bouttanavong’s visit and considers consolidating and developing the Việt Nam-Laos relationship a strategic task. 
She briefed her guest on Việt Nam’s socio-economic situation, with gross domestic product (GDP) expected to grow 6.76 per cent in 2019.  
Ngân appreciated the implementation of documents signed by top Vietnamese and Lao legislators and urged the Committees for External Relations of the two legislatures to set forth a cooperation plan for 2020, aiming to improve the efficiency of collaboration. 

Bounpone Bouttanavong informed the host about outcomes of his talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Phùng Quốc Hiển.
The two sides agreed to continue their coordination in organising high-level visits of legislative leaders, thematic seminars for agencies of the parliaments and training courses on law building, the Lao legislator said, expressing his hope that the legislatures will step up their cooperation in the future. 
He highlighted the success of the recent seventh conference of external relations committees of Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian parliaments in Việt Nam’s northern province of Quảng Ninh.
Laos will closely coordinate with Việt Nam when the country assumes its role as Chair of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in 2020. 
Host and guest shared the view that the Lao NA House is a significant project to the Vietnamese and Lao Parties, States, NAs and peoples, and pledged to maintain their close coordination in order to ensure the quality and progress of the project. 
Bounpone Bouttanavong conveyed the invitation of NA President Pany Yathotou to the Vietnamese top legislator to soon visit Laos. NA Chairwoman Ngân accepted the invitation with pleasure.-VNS