HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân hosted a reception in Hà Nội on Tuesday for Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, who is on an official visit to Việt Nam to attend the sixth Việt Nam-Laos Foreign Ministerial Political Consultation.

The top legislator described 2019 as a fruitful year of bilateral relations with numerous external activities and important high-level visits. The bilateral cooperation mechanisms have also been intensified, especially in politics-diplomacy, economy, and border issues.

These achievements were significantly contributed to by the two countries’ foreign ministries, she said.

Ngân added that the bilateral parliamentary ties had been strengthened within the framework of the cooperation agreement signed in 2017.

The two sides supported each other at both regional and global inter-parliamentary forums, while maintaining high-level delegation exchanges, Ngân said.

Saleumxay extended the best regards of the Lao National Assembly Chairwoman Pany Yathotou to Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân.
He informed the host about the earlier workshop held by the two foreign ministries on economic diplomacy, saying this created a good chance for the two sides to share experience in the field.

The minister congratulated Việt Nam on taking over the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2020, and affirmed that Laos is willing to support Việt Nam to fulfill this role and the Chair of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in 2020 as well as the non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-21.

Ngân thanked the Lao minister for his support and asked the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue working with the Lao counterpart to train the Lao language to Vietnamese diplomats. — VNS