Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on August 27 held online talks with his Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith.

Saleumxay congratulated Son on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the National Day of Vietnam and the 79th founding anniversary of the diplomatic sector, as well as his appointment as the Deputy PM.

He expressed his belief that Son, with his ability and experience, will continue making contributions to concretising the external missions entrusted by the Vietnamese Party and State.

Son, for his part, thanked the Lao Deputy PM and FM for his congratulations, and held that Vietnam has obtained noble achievements over the past 79 years thanks to the sincere and wholehearted support from Laos. Son stressed that he will continue close coordination with Saleumxay to foster the Vietnam – Laos special relations as well as the ties between the two foreign ministries.

The two officials rejoiced at the robust development of the bilateral relations across various domains over the past time, with political ties having upheld its key role in the bilateral relationship, and defence-security cooperation having been consolidated to ensure political stability, defence-security and social order in each nation.

Meanwhile, collaboration in the fields of economy, trade and investment has been accelerated, with two-way trade during the January-July period rising 16.7% year-on-year to 1.1 billion USD. Furthermore, positive cooperation results have been recorded in education-training, healthcare, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

They concurred to continue coordination to bring into full play the outcomes of high-level visits, particularly the state visit to Laos by President To Lam in July, and the agreement reached at the 46th meeting of the Vietnam – Laos Intergovernmental Committee for Bilateral Cooperation.

Regarding cooperation at regional and international forums, the two officials reached consensus on enhancing experience and information sharing, and close coordination at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Mekong sub-regional cooperation mechanisms.

✃ Son affirmed support and assistance for Laos to help the nation successfully fulfil its international responsibility in the coming time, including the ASEAN and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly Chairmanship in 2024. He said the move will contribute to improving Laos’s role and position in the regional and international arenas./.