December 19, 2017 | 17:19 (GMT+7)
Grand welcome ceremony for Lao leader in Hanoi
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong chaired a grand welcome ceremony for General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachith in Hanoi on December 19.
The three-day visit is from December 19 made at the invitation of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Tran Dai Quang with a view to promoting the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
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Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and LPRP General Secretary and Lao President Bounnhang Vorachith review the guards of honor.
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This is the second official friendly visit of the Lao leader during his tenure (2016-2021).
The visit is also expected to strengthen solidarity and political trust between the two Parties and countries. This is also a chance for Vietnam to affirm support to Laos during its cause of national defense and development.
The Vietnam-Laos relationship has been growing in all fields.
Bilateral political relations have been promoted, with high-level meetings regularly organized and collaboration mechanisms constantly strengthened.
Both sides have worked together closely in popularizing the Vietnam-Laos ties and holding celebrations of the 55th anniversary of their diplomatic relations and 40 years of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.
Defense-security and external relation partnership has been fruitful. Vietnam and Laos have coordinated to build a shared border of stability and sustainable development. They have completed a joint project to upgrade and build more border markers, with 1,002 markers upgraded and built.
The two countries’ governments have also finalized legal procedures for a protocol on land border.
Two-way trade reached USD 720.4 million this year to October, up 8.7 percent over the same period last year, with Vietnam’s exports hitting USD 426.2 million, a year on year rise of 12.4 percent.
After the welcome ceremony, Vietnamese and Lao leaders held talks.
Source: VNA