The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Special ASEAN - China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the 6th Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
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Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and his Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith at the meeting |
The Vietnamese minister highlighted the mutual support and cooperation between the two countries in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. He took this chance to thank the Lao Party and State leadership for their sympathy regarding the pandemic situation in Vietnam. He hoped that Vietnam’s financial aid, medical supplies, and health experts sent to Laos would help the country effectively control COVID-19.
For his part, the Lao minister expressed thanks to the Party, State, and people of Vietnam for their precious material and spiritual support for Laos in combating COVID-19. He confirmed that Laos always stays ready to stand side by side with Vietnam in line with the spirit of the Vietnam - Laos great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation.
In order to deepen the two countries’ relationship, both officials agreed to boost delegation exchanges at all levels, continue to bring into full play bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially Inter-Governmental Committee meetings, as well as continuously improve the effectiveness of cooperation in defense, security, trade, and investment.
They also discussed further collaboration in important cooperation programs, especially projects on transport connectivity to optimise the efficiency of the Vietnam - Laos International Seaport (Vung Ang Seaport).
The ministers reached a consensus on enhancing cooperation in border management in order to prevent illegal immigration while ensuring cross-border trading and to review the “One-stop-shop” model applied at the Lao Bao - Densavan border gate pair in the near future.
Regarding the two foreign ministries’ cooperation, both ministers emphasized the effective implementation of the cooperation agreement for the 2021-2025 period, including organising political consultations at ministerial and deputy ministerial levels, boosting information sharing and strategic research, and organizing more exchanges between the two ministries’ key units.
The two officials underscored the importance of economic diplomacy and agreed to boost experience exchanges and effectively carry out the action plan for cooperation in economic diplomacy for the 2020-2025 period.
Also, they reached an agreement on starting preparations for celebrations of the 60th anniversary of establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties and 45 years since the signing of the Vietnam - Laos Treaty of Amity and Cooperation next year.
Translated by Chung Anh