THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Government News
Prime Minister embarks on official visit to Laos
VGP - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh left Ha Noi on Wednesday morning for a two-day official visit to Laos where he will co-chair the 45th meeting of the Viet Nam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh l
This is the first visit to Laos by Pham since he took office in 2021 and his first foreign visit in in 2023.
The Vietnamese Prime Minister is accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoa, Deputy Minister of National Defense Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Duy Ngoc, deputy head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Internal Affairs Nguyen Thi Hoang Van, Deputy Chairman of the Office of Government Nguyen Xuan Thanh and Vietnamese Ambassador in Laos Nguyen Ba Hung.
The visit aims to affirm Viet Nam’s consistent policy of treasuring and prioritising the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive partnership with Laos, as well as Viet Nam’s support for Laos' national development course.
It is also meant to realise the foreign policy adopted at the 13th National Party Congress and reinforce external activities via Party, State and people-to-people diplomacy channels.
As scheduled, both sides will review outstanding achievements in bilateral ties in 2022 and chart major orientations for 2023 and beyond.
A range of political, economic, education, cultural and tourism and people-to-people exchange activities were held during the Viet Nam-Laos, Laos-Viet Nam Solidarity and Friendship Year 2022.
Two-way trade was estimated at US$1.63 billion last year, up 20 percent from 2021. With 238 active projects worth about US$5.34 billion in Laos, Viet Nam is the third biggest investor in the land-locked country.
About 14,000 Lao students are studying in 160 Vietnamese educational establishments. In the first nine months of 2022, Laos welcomed around 197,000 Vietnamese visitors and roughly 26,000 Lao tourists visited Viet Nam./.