Important political event for Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Cambodia relations

PANO - President Tran Dai Quang and his wife is on a state-level visit to the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR) and the Kingdom of Cambodia from June 12^th to 16^th at the invitation of LPDR General Secretary and President Bounnhang Vorachith and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni.

Over the past time, the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos have been growing more steadily, deeply, practically, and effectively in all fields.

The political relationship has been promoted and become more reliable, shown in recent visits, meetings, and exchanges paid by high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and peoples.

President Tran Dai Quang and his wide arriving at Wattay International Airport

Defense-security cooperation and bilateral dialogue have been increasingly improved. Protocols signed between the two Ministries of National Defense and the Ministries of Public Security and agreements on the regulations over border management, the completion of Vietnam-Laos border markers increase and upgrading project have been effectively implemented. The completion of the Vietnam-Laos border marker system has contributed to practically and legally increasing the quality of the Vietnam-Laos border management. The two sides have also well coordinated with each other in the search, collection, and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese martyrs who laid down their lives in Lao territory.

In terms of trade and economic cooperation and investment, the two sides have actively and effectively implemented cooperation agreements signed by the two governments. Vietnam and Laos also signed a border trade agreement and kicked off the “one-stop-shop” mechanism in Lao Bao (Vietnam) - Densavan (Laos) international border gates. Investment of Vietnamese businesses in Laos has seen remarkable growth; so far, Vietnamese businesses have invested in 258 projects in Laos with a total registered capital of nearly USD 5 billion.

Both sides have paid special attention to improving the quality and effectiveness of cooperation in education and training and human resource development. The project “Improving the quality and efficiency of Vietnam-Laos education and human resource development cooperation for the 2011-2020 period” has been implemented. Cooperation in education and training in the 2011-2015 period was reviewed and the direction for the cooperation in the 2016-2020 period has been defined. Currently, there are 9,295 Lao cadres and students studying in Vietnam and 425 Vietnamese students studying in Laos.

Cooperation in transportation, science and technology, agriculture, information and communications, labor, society and culture, tourism... captured the interest of both sides and has been effectively and practically implemented.

As for the Vietnam-Cambodia relations, the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries have been further boosted over the past time.

The political relations have been strengthened via the increase in high-ranking delegation exchanges and those at the ministerial-, sectoral- and locality-levels, helping reinforce trust between the leaders and people of both countries. Vietnam and Cambodia have also well maintained bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee for economic, culture, science and technology cooperation, Conference on cooperation and development among Vietnam-Cambodia border provinces. Besides, ministries, agencies and localities of the two countries have regularly met and worked on annual cooperation plans.

Security-defense cooperation has been strengthened. Both sides have held joint patrols at sea and implemented close cooperation in the search, collection and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who sacrificed during wartime in Cambodia.

The two-way trade volume reached USD 3.37 billion in 2015. The first quarter of 2016 saw the turnover reach USD 944.6 million, up by 4.3% compared to the same period in 2015. The target of a USD-5-billion two-way trade value in the coming time has been set.

At present, there have been 172 Vietnamese projects invested in Cambodia with a total registered capital of about USD 3.61 billion (USD 1.4 billion of working capital), ranked 5^th out of 50 countries and territories having investment projects in Cambodia. Cambodia also has 12 ongoing projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of over USD 54 million, ranked 49^th out of 103 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

In terms of tourism, Vietnamese tourists have always accounted for the biggest proportion of the total annual number of visitors to Cambodia. In 2015, about 900,000 Vietnamese travelers chose to visit Cambodia while there were nearly 200,000 Cambodian tourists coming to Vietnam.

Cooperation between ministries, agencies, localities, and organizations of the two countries keeps being promoted through the exchange of delegations, mutual assistance in economic development, strengthening of cultural exchanges, health cooperation and people-to-people diplomacy, contributing to maintaining a borderline of peace, stability, friendship and cooperation.

The state-level visit to the LPDR and the Kingdom of Cambodia of President Tran Dai Quang and his wife is an important political event in the Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Cambodia relations. The visit is the clear evidence of the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Laos and Vietnam and Cambodia, aiming at further deepening the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and the two neighboring countries, exchanging practical measures to strengthen cooperation in such fields as politics, security, economy, trade… and comparing notes on international and regional issues of mutual concerns.

We strongly believe that the visit will be a success and open up a new chapter in the Vietnam-Laos and Vietnam-Cambodia cooperation and traditional friendship.

People’s Army Newspaper