During the meeting, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien thanked the Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister for spending time hosting the Vietnamese delegation. He expressed delight at the comprehensive, practical, and effective cooperation between the two defense ministries over the past time, especially in Party and political work, training, delegation exchange, border management and protection, and force building.
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General Chansamone Chanyalath welcoming Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and Vietnamese delegation |
He affirmed that defense cooperation continues to be one of the important pillars in the Vietnam - Laos relationship.
The Vietnamese deputy defense minister affirmed that since the beginning of 2023, the two defense ministries have jointly carried out various cooperation contents and achieved fruitful results, including the successful organization of the third Vietnam - Laos Defense Policy Dialogue in Houaphanh in March. The two sides visited and inspected Phathi village cluster, presented scholarships to students, and participated in Young Border Guard Exchange. In addition, the delegation of the General Department of Political Affairs conducted a survey on Road 559 relic site in Eastern of Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.
For his part, Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Chansamone Chanyalath welcomed the Vietnamese Defense Ministry’s working visit. He said that apart from consolidating the traditional friendship between the two countries and two militaries, the visit was an opportunity for the two sides to exchange orientation for the implementation of common perception and cooperation plan in 2023 reached by the two defense ministers.
General Chansamone Chanyalath emphasized that amid the complicated developments of the regional and international situation, the two defense ministries should foster information dissemination and education to help their servicemen, especially young troops, learn more about the unique special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos.
Regarding orientation for future cooperation, the Lao official emphasized that the two defense ministries will continue to direct the comprehensive and effective implementation of cooperation plan in 2023, focusing on dissemination of the friendship and solidarity between the two parties, governments, peoples, and militaries through exchanges and twinning activities.
They will also direct the preparation for a series of joint external defense relations activities between Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, including the Defense Minister-level Border Friendship Exchange in Vietnam’s Kon Tum province, Laos’ Attapeu province, and Cambodia’s Rattanakiri province and the annual meeting between the three defense ministers and sidelines activities.
On the occasion of Bunpimay, traditional New Year festival of the Lao people, Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister Hoang Xuan Chien extended best wishes to Lao defense leaders and troops of the Lao People’s Army and conveyed Vietnamese Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang’s wishes to Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Chansamone Chanyalath.
The same day, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien and the Vietnamese delegation visited and inspected the progress of the construction of Culture Boarding School of the Laos People’s Army, a gift of the Vietnamese Defense Ministry to the Lao counterpart.
Translated by Tran Hoai