Talking about the significance of these visits, the Deputy FM stated that the visits will be made at the invitations of General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni. They are the President’s first trips abroad after taking office in June. The upcoming visits to Laos and Cambodia will show that the Party and State of Vietnam always attach importance and give the highest priority to reinforcing the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Laos and good neighborliness, traditional friendship, and comprehensive, sustainable, and long-term cooperation with Cambodia.
    |
 |
|
Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet |
The visits will be seen as a message affirming solidarity and close ties among the three countries. Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia share geographical proximity and cultural and historical similarities. The people of the three countries have stood side by side during the struggle for national liberation, reunification and development.
With the determination to promote the implementation of high-level agreements, especially the outcomes of annual meetings between the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Politburo of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, and the Standing Committee of the Cambodian People's Party, the visits will mark a new stage of development in Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Cambodia relations based on equality, mutual benefit, effective cooperation, respect for each other's interests, contributing to consolidating strategic trust, deepening relations with the two countries, and fostering solidarity between Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia and ASEAN.
According to Deputy FM Do Hung Viet, the Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Cambodia relations have been developing fruitfully and comprehensively, based on enhanced trust and closeness. The cooperation through the Party channel plays a crucial role in orienting the relations towards stronger development.
Defense and security cooperation between Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia has become a firm pillar, making important contribution to maintaining political and social stability and security in each country, especially in border areas. Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia adhere firmly to the principle of not allowing any hostile forces to use one country's territory against another. The three countries have effectively promoted significant cooperation mechanisms, such as the annual meeting of the three defense ministers; the joint search and rescue exercises of the three militaries; and the annual conference of the Ministers of Public Security and Home Affairs of the three countries.
Meanwhile, economic, investment, and trade cooperation has continued to record progress, with dynamic development seen in border economic cooperation, contributing to boosting the connection among the three countries and raising the living standards of local people in border areas, the official said.
The meetings of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-governmental Committee have been conducted regularly to exchange information in a timely manner and find effective solutions to enhance the efficiency of cooperation in key areas.
Vietnam remains one of the largest investors and trade partners of Laos, and is Cambodia's third-largest trading partner in the world and the largest one within ASEAN. Both Laos and Cambodia are top destinations among the 79 countries and territories receiving investment from Vietnam.
The cooperation in education-training has received special attention from the Party and State leaders of the three countries. Vietnam has focused on supporting Laos and Cambodia in enhancing the quality of their human resources. The number of exchange students between Vietnam and the remaining two countries is increasing with higher quality, serving as a crucial foundation for promoting cultural exchange and intensifying mutual understanding and people-to-people exchange among the three countries.
Cooperation in transportation, culture and society, tourism, and science - technology has also seen strong development. Attentively, the settlement of legal documents of people of Vietnamese origin in Cambodia has made new strides, making it easier for them to live and work in Cambodia.
During the visits, President To Lam is scheduled to have talks and meetings with all Lao and Cambodian senior leaders. This will offer favorable opportunities for them to review high-level agreements and key cooperation areas, and map out orientations for future cooperation.
The visits will certainly create new momentum to deepen the relations between Vietnam and the two countries in a more extensive and comprehensive manner, as well as boost cooperation within multilateral frameworks such as ASEAN, Mekong sub-regional cooperation mechanisms, and the United Nations.
Translated by Quynh Oanh