VNA Deputy General Director Lê Quốc Minh (L) and KPL General Director Sounthone Khanthavong exchange the signed talks’ minutes in Vientiane on Sunday. — VNA/VNS Photo

VIENTIANE — The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Laos news agency Khaosan Pathet Lao (KPL) have agreed to cooperate to improve information quality in 2020.

The consensus was reached during talks between VNA Deputy General Director Lê Quốc Minh and KPL General Director Sounthone Khanthavong in the Lao capital city of Vientiane on Sunday.
The two sides also pledged to work together to step up the communication work to promote the friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two agencies as well as between the Vietnamese and Lao Parties, States and peoples.
The VNA will continue to help the Lao agency upgrade its website https://kpl.la, provide KPL with professional training and provide studio equipment in 2020.  
Meanwhile, the KPL will assist the VNA in publishing the Lao version of its Vietnam Pictorial in Laos and popularising VNA’s e-newspapers like Vietnam Pictorial and VietnamPlus on its website, while supporting Lao-based VNA correspondents.
The VNA also presented technical equipment to its Lao counterpart.
At the end of the meeting, Minh and Khanthavong signed the talks’ minutes which will serve as a foundation for the implementation of cooperation programmes and plans in the time to come.
The same day, Minh was received by Lao Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune.
Minh informed his host that the VNA has maintained special and close ties with the KPL, adding that the Vietnamese State-run news agency has set up bilateral and multilateral cooperation with more than 40 major news agencies and organisations in the world.
Despite the difficulties it faces, the VNA has done its best to help the Lao agency, particularly in personnel training and technical infrastructure upgrade, to meet the increasing demand for information in the new era, the VNA Deputy Director General said, adding that the Vietnamese agency will continue with the assistance, especially in human resources development.
He asked the Lao Government and Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism to further back relations between the two agencies, and facilitate the operation of VNA correspondents in the country.
For his part, Khaykhamphithoune rejoiced at the close and effective collaboration between the two news agencies, and urged the VNA to continue sharing its experience with the Lao side.
The agencies should seek suitable and effective training methods to raise professional skills for Lao officials, journalists and editors, the minister said, expressing his hope for stronger relations between the agencies. — VNS