Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Vuong Dinh Hue met with representatives of Vietnamese businesses in Laos on May 15 in Vientiane as part of his official visit to Laos.

At the meeting, Duong Dinh Bang, Interim Chairman of the Vietnamese Business Association for Cooperation and Investment in Laos, said the Lao Government is amending legal regulations so as to improve the investment climate. Besides, many agreements between the two countries have also created an optimal legal corridor for Vietnamese firms’ investment in Laos.

However, he admitted that investment relations still fall short of expectations and have yet to match the political and diplomatic ties.

Representatives of the Vietnamese enterprises submitted several proposals to Lao and Vietnamese authorities so as to help facilitate bilateral investment and trade partnerships.

Appreciating the companies’ opinions, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone said Vietnam is currently the third biggest foreign investor in his country with total investment of 4.6 billion USD, and that Vietnamese firms’ projects have been greatly helping with local socio-economic development.

For his part, Chairman Hue said even businesses should be aware of their responsibility towards the special Vietnam - Laos ties.

Special relations need special mechanisms in order to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses’ operations in Laos, he noted, asking the enterprises to proactively improve their competitiveness.

He emphasised that in the time ahead, it is necessary to develop economic, trade, and investment links on par with the political and diplomatic relations between the two countries.

As the bilateral trade of 1.3 billion USD remains modest compared to the countries’ potential and advantages, the top legislator requested businesses and leaders of ministries and sectors to seek solutions to existing shortcomings in the current projects.

He voiced his hope that enterprises in Vietnam and Laos will work harder to make breakthroughs in economic, trade, and investment ties in terms of both quantity and quality so as to bring about practical benefits for the two countries as well as their business communities and people.

The same day, NA Chairman Hue and his entourage visited the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos and met with the Vietnamese community here.

Chairman Hue appreciated the work of the Embassy and Vietnamese representative agencies in Laos as well as the contributions of the Vietnamese community and Vietnamese businesses in Laos to the relations between Vietnam and Laos.

He singled out the issue of preserving the Vietnamese culture in overseas Vietnamese communities, saying that it needs continued attention in Laos where there are as many as 100,000 Vietnamese.         

He asked the embassy to hold activities to promote the Vietnamese language.

 The NA Chairman took the occasion to inform the Vietnamese community on the socio-economic situation in Vietnam and decisions made at the recent fifth plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee.      

Chairman of the General Association of Vietnamese in Laos Nguyen Duy Trung presented proposals of the Vietnamese community in Laos, including starting labour cooperation between the two countries, increasing annual scholarships for Vietnamese-Lao students to study in Vietnam, and facilitating access to medical check and treatment in Vietnam for Vietnamese in Laos.  

Chairman Hue took note of the proposal and promised to ask relevant agencies to consider them./.