VN, Laos bolster ties at intergovernmental meet 

Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith led a delegation to Vietnam to attend the event, which also aimed to increase political trust and direct the implementation of high-level agreements to boost ties.
The meeting, co-chaired by Thongloun and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc, scrutinised the implementation of agreements and promotion of cooperation between the two countries.
Vietnam-Laos relations have been strengthened with regular delegation exchanges and meetings at all levels. Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, made an official visit to Laos last November.
Vietnam supported Laos in undertaking the chairmanship of Asean and holding the Asean Summit last year. The two sides coordinated in ensuring security and defence and fighting transnational crime. Trade and investment links between the two countries also saw progress.
Vietnamese enterprises have registered to invest US$5.1 billion (Bt178 billion) in Laos, ranking third among foreign investors in the country. Two-way trade between the two countries in 2016 hit $801 million. Trade-promotion activities were intensified through fairs and conferences.
Additionally, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in transportation, focusing on completing a study on a proposed Hanoi-Vientiane highway, and accelerating implementation of transport projects within bilateral cooperation and in the Mekong subregion.
About 100,200 Laotian tourists visited Vietnam in the first nine months of 2016, while the number of Vietnamese visitors to Laos reached 760,500 in the period, up 20 per cent year on year.
Vietnam began construction of two hospitals in Huaphan and Xieng Khuang provinces worth about $20 million and $17.6 million respectively. Education and training cooperation between Vietnam and Laos has also been expanded. More than 14,000 Laotians study in Vietnam.
The two sides are also cooperating on science and technology, natural resources and environment, agriculture, telecommunications, labour, culture, museums and tourism.
Vietnam helped Laos develop agricultural and broadcasting projects in Xieng Khuang and Oudomxay by providing official development assistance. The two nations closely cooperate at regional and international forums and coordinate with other Asean member nations in building the Asean Community.

40th anniversary 
This year, the two sides will celebrate 40 years since the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (July 18, 1997) and the 55th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.
On Tuesday, Thongloun called on Trong. Trong said Vietnam and Laos should identify concrete measures to ensure quality and progress of Vietnamese projects in Laos, and boost sustainable growth of economic ties. At a reception that he hosted in Hanoi for Thongloun, the Laotian prime minister reiterated his country’s determination to work with Vietnam on bringing socio-economic cooperation on par with the sound political relations that the two countries enjoy.
Thongloun affirmed that his government would also work closely with Vietnam in directing ministries, sectors and localities to implement agreements reached by the two countries’ senior ruling-party and state leaders as well as those to be signed during the 39th Meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee that he would co-chair in Hanoi.
He conveyed New Year wishes from President Bounnhang Vorachith, who is also general secretary of the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, to the Vietnamese Communist Party chief. He also thanked Vietnam for its long-standing support for Laos.
Trong lauded the effective cooperation between the two governments in recent times.
He said that during the 39th Meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee, the two sides should actively seek coordination measures for realising the aims of Vietnam-Laos Joint Statements, bilateral agreements and cooperation programmes and plans.
Trong also suggested that Vietnam and Laos strengthen connectivity in economy, transport infrastructure and energy. Both countries should effect positive and practical changes towards improving the quality of education and training cooperation, he said.