National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (L) and General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith (Photo: VNA)

Speaking to Viet Nam News Agency following the visit, Ha said that leaders of Laos highly valued the first visit by Hue as the Vietnamese top legislator during the Viet Nam-Laos, Laos-Viet Nam Solidarity and Friendship Year 2022, making him the first foreign parliament leader to visit Laos during the ninth tenure of the Lao National Assembly.

The Lao side congratulated Viet Nam on its achievements in socio-economic development and pandemic control, and informed the Vietnamese leader on Laos’ socio-economic targets and tasks as well as its action plan to deal with COVID-19 impacts and boost socio-economic development, he said.

Ha underlined that National Assembly Chairman Hue’s visit sent out a message that the Vietnamese Party, State, National Assembly and people always have understanding of and sharing with Laos with a spirit of comradeship, brotherhood and mutual support, and Viet Nam always stands by the side of, accompanies and assists Laos to overcome all challenges for further development.

Ha noted that during the visit, National Assembly Chairman Hue and the Vietnamese delegation conducted 27 official activities, including talks between the National Assembly leader and his Lao counterpart Saysomphone Phomvihane.

At the talks and meetings, leaders of the two countries had substantial and deep discussions on cooperation between the two parliaments and two countries as well as regional and international issues of shared concern.

Both sides agreed to work closely in effectively implementing the cooperation agreements reached between the two National Assemblies during the visit for the 2022-2026 period, while increasing delegation exchanges between the two National Assemblies and National Assembly agencies and as well as parliamentarians’ groups and the People’s Councils of localities sharing the border and twin relations.

The two sides will continue to coordinate in organising conferences to share experience in parliamentary operations, while cooperating in supervising and promoting the implementation of agreements, treaties and cooperation plans between the two Governments, and working together in organising activities to celebrate the bilateral Solidarity and Friendship Year 2022. They will continue to foster collaboration and mutual support at international and regional inter-parliamentary forums such as the ASEAN Inter-Paliamentary Assembly (AIPA), Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF).

They also consented to coordinate with the National Assembly of Cambodia to continue improving the process and procedures to upgrade the mechanism of cooperation among the legislatures of the three countries to the National Assembly Chairman-chaired level.

Particularly, Ha said that the Lao National Assembly leader expressed hope to learn from Viet Nam’s experience in Party affairs in National Assembly operations, ensuring the Party leadership over National Assembly operations.

The two National Assembly leaders witnessed the signing and exchange of a number of cooperation documents, including the Cooperation Agreement between the Office of the National Assembly of Viet Nam and the Office of the National Assembly of Laos and the working minutes on electricity purchase from Laos.

National Assembly Chairman Hue also visited Champasak province where he met Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Governor of Champasak Vilayvong Bouddakham, and laid a wreath at the monument commemorating the martyrs of the Laos-Viet Nam Combat Alliance. He also visited the Viet Nam-Laos rubber company, the provincial boarding school for ethnic minority students, and the Consulate General of Viet Nam, and met representatives of the Vietnamese community and Vietnamese businesses investing in four southern provinces of Laos.

Chairman of the NA Committee for External Relations Vu Hai Ha. (Photo: VNA)

Besides the activities of the National Assembly Chairman, delegation members also conducted 10 meetings and bilateral exchanges with the respective agencies and partners of Laos. The exchanges all had substantive and comprehensive contents, demonstrating their determination to urgently implement high-level agreements in 2022, said Ha.

Regarding the outcomes of the conference co-chaired by the two National Assemblies to share the experience on mechanisms and policies supporting post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and development, Ha said that participants shared their experience in performing the role of a legislature in building laws to promote national socio-economic recovery and development after the COVID-19 to suit the conditions in each country.

The Lao side highly valued Viet Nam’s experience in approving support packages. National Assembly Chairman Hue proposed that the two sides hold another conference in Viet Nam to seek measures to boost the recovery process together.

On the special mechanisms to create more favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses investing in Laos, Ha said that at the meeting with the Vietnamese community in Laos, National Assembly Chairman Hue, Lao Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandon and Lao National Assembly Vice Chairman Sommad Pholsena listened to opinions and requests of the community. They affirmed that Vietnamese-funded projects have made positive contributions to promoting the socio-economic development of Laos. They pledged to direct relevant agencies to make suitable policies and mechanisms to create more favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses operating in the neighbouring countries.

Viet Nam is the third largest investor in Laos. The Lao side held that despite a rise of 33 percent year on year in two-way trade in 2021 to 1.2 billion USD, the figure has yet to meet the potential of cooperation between the two countries and accounted for a too small rate in the trade revenue of each country.

Both sides agreed on the need to design breakthrough measures to accelerate bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation, making it match the sound special political ties between the two countries, as well as the necessity to continue to design effective solutions to ease difficulties facing Viet Nam businesses in Laos.