Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh arrives in Vientiane on December 2 morning. (Photo: VNA)  

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh arrived in Vientiane on December 2 morning, beginning his working trip to Laos to attend a high-level meeting between the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), and to co-chair the 48th meeting of the Vietnam–Laos Intergovernmental Committee.

The Government leader and the Vietnamese delegation were welcomed at Wattay International Airport by Bouakhong Nammavong, Minister and Head of the Prime Minister’s Office; the Lao Deputy Foreign Minister; leaders of Vientiane; Lao Ambassador to Vietnam Khamphao Ernthavanh; Chief of the Laos–Vietnam Cooperation Committee Office Viengsan Chantha; and representatives of departments under the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong, Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Minh Tam, representatives of Vietnamese agencies and members of the Vietnamese community in Laos were also at the airport to welcome the PM.

During the trip, PM Chinh will join senior leaders of the two Parties at the high-level meeting, co-chair the 48th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee with his Lao counterpart, and hold bilateral engagements with Lao leaders. He is also scheduled to co-chair the Vietnam–Laos Economic Forum.

At the 48th meeting, the two Government delegations will review the implementation of cooperation agreements under the 2021–2025 Vietnam–Laos Cooperation Plan and one for 2025. They will also discuss cooperation orientations and tasks for the 2026–2030 period and 2026 specifically, in order to concretise conclusions reached at the recent meeting of the two Politburos.

The PM’s trip takes place at a time when political relations and strategic trust between Vietnam and Laos continue to be strengthened, reaffirming their core role ad overal orientations for bilateral relationship. Over more than 60 years of diplomatic relations, the two countries have inherited and upheld their special solidarity. They have agreed to elevate their ties to a new height with strategic cohesion.

Both sides have maintained and enhanced existing cooperation mechanisms, particularly through regular exchanges between the two Party General Secretaries and high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and States. They have also reviewed and adjusted cooperation frameworks to better align with current realities, while focusing on strategic issues, and policies relating to security and development.

The two sides have coordinated in successfully organising many important diplomatic activities between the high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and States. The senior leaders of both Parties and States held in-depth, comprehensive, and substantive discussions on core issues, resolving many key cooperation projects and initiatives, thereby creating momentum to further strengthen the cooperation and deepen the bonds between the two Parties and countries.

Defence, security, and foreign affairs cooperation continue to make new progress, becoming deeper and more effective, serving as a pillar in the Vietnam-Laos relationship. Economic, cultural, educational, and scientific-technical cooperation has seen positive changes. Cooperation between departments, ministries, agencies, parliamentary committees, mass organisations, people’s organisations, and localities of the two countries has also been strengthened and made more substantive.

PM Chinh’s working trip underscores both sides’ determination to promptly implement high-level agreements between the two Parties, contributing to stepping up bilateral cooperation, and reflecting the determination of the two Governments to realising the Politburos’ agreements, helping lift Vietnam–Laos relations to the level of "strategic cohesion"./.