Elevating Vietnam - Laos relations to enter a phase of strategic engagement

Photo caption — Lao General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith and General Secretary To Lam review the Lao People's Army's Guard of Honor. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

At the end of the visit, Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung gave an interview on the results of General Secretary To Lam's working trip. The following is the content of the interview:

Could the Minister please tell us about the significance and important results of the recent working trip of General Secretary To Lam, his wife and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to Laos?

At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith and his wife, General Secretary To Lam, his wife and a high-ranking delegation of the Party and State of Vietnam paid a State visit to Laos to attend the 50th National Day Celebration of the Lao People's Democratic Republic; and co-chair the High-level Meeting between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party from December 1-2, 2025.

During the visit, General Secretary To Lam held talks with General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith; had many meetings with all key leaders of Laos; and visited former General Secretaries and Presidents of Laos. On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam and the delegation of the Party and State also attended the inauguration ceremony of the Laos - Vietnam Friendship Park.

A very special activity was that General Secretary To Lam gave an important speech at the Lao National Academy of Politics and Public Administration, which was broadcast live to all people in Laos. The visit also took place on the occasion of the 105th birthday of the late President Kaysone Phomvihane. The visit was extremely successful and the leaders of the two parties and two countries agreed that this was a visit of historical significance, opening a new chapter in the relationship between the two parties and the two countries of Vietnam and Laos.

The success of the visit was clearly demonstrated in many outstanding highlights. Firstly, the attendance of General Secretary To Lam and his wife at the 50th Anniversary of Laos National Day demonstrated the solidarity between Vietnam and Laos, the mutual respect for the achievements of the two parties and countries, in line with the tradition and motto of "considering your victory as our victory". The Lao leaders and people were also very moved and appreciated this as a great source of encouragement from their Vietnamese comrades and brothers. The respect that the Lao Party, State and people have for Vietnam was clearly demonstrated through the extremely respectful, emotional and warm welcome from the airport to all the places that the General Secretary and his wife and the delegation visited.

In response to that sincerity, General Secretary To Lam's speech at the Lao National Academy of Politics and Public Administration clearly stated the traditional relationship between the two peoples, two parties, two countries throughout the process of fighting for independence, building, protecting and developing the country; about the achievements of the Vietnamese people through their own efforts, with the help of international friends and especially the very important support of the Lao Party, State and People; about the political determination of Vietnam and the direction of Vietnam and Laos to move forward together in the coming period.

Second, during this visit, the two parties and two countries agreed to take their relationship to a new level. Up to now, Vietnam and Laos have promoted their relationship under the 12-word motto of “great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation”. Now the relationship between the two countries has been raised to 16 golden words with a new element of “strategic connection”. This demonstrates the common vision, common orientation and joint efforts of the two peoples on strategic issues in the new period, not only in politics but also in close economic connection through infrastructure connection, economic development planning and special connection between the two peoples, promoting existing traditions, mechanisms and methods.

The third very important result based on the new strategic orientation is that the two sides have agreed to concretize the strategic cooperation directions in the coming time, in which political cooperation is the spearhead and the guiding principle of the Vietnam - Laos relationship; national defense and security is one of the important pillars to ensure peace and stability of the two countries for development; socio-economic cooperation must make a breakthrough so that the two countries can grow together in the coming time, strongly promoting the tradition between the two peoples.

Another very important factor is that the visit took place right before the two parties and two countries look forward to the Party Congress in 2026. On this occasion, the two sides together summarized and evaluated achievements and set out future directions, cultivating the common strength of the two parties and two countries, ready to enter a new era of development for the two peoples. That source of strength is an extremely great driving force for Vietnam and Laos to have a launching pad for further development.

On this occasion, the Lao Party and State awarded General Secretary To Lam the National Gold Medal, Laos's highest medal, in recognition of General Secretary To Lam's great contributions to Laos-Vietnam relations.

With such outstanding results, what do the two countries, especially Vietnam, need to do to implement them in practice?

This historic visit has opened a new chapter, elevating the relationship between the two parties and countries to a new strategic level, with new connotations, strategic ties and very specific directions for cooperation. On December 3, the Prime Ministers of Vietnam and Laos chaired the 48th Meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee for Cooperation. These are very important directions for implementing the latest agreements between the two parties.

In the coming time, Vietnam and Laos must continue to maintain and develop awareness of the importance of the 16-word golden relationship of "great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, strategic cohesion". That is the foundation of strength of utmost importance for the cause of national construction and protection of both Vietnam and Laos; it is an inevitable and objective historical law in the development process of the two parties and two countries. General Secretary To Lam, in his speech at the Lao National Academy of Politics and Public Administration, also emphasized that preserving and developing the special solidarity relationship between Vietnam and Laos is a political responsibility, an inevitable law, and a very important awareness, especially in the new period.

After the meeting between the two parties as well as the Intergovernmental Committee, the Secretariat, the Vietnamese Government will issue a specific plan for ministries, branches and localities to implement the high-level agreements that have been reached. On that basis, branches, localities and enterprises need to thoroughly understand and continue to concretize the implementation of the agreements. In which, localities play a very important role. Recently, Vietnamese localities have made very practical contributions to strengthening cooperation in all fields between Vietnam and Laos, especially very specific issues in terms of development requirements between Vietnam and Laos.

Along with that, the two parties and two countries welcome the participation of enterprises, including state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, as well as international enterprises that have been successful in Vietnam, to accompany Vietnam and Laos in implementing cooperation activities in the brotherly country of Laos. We have a new strategic vision, requiring awareness of the new level of relations between the two parties, two countries and peoples of the two countries, have had directions and will have specific cooperation plans, which are a strong launching pad to promote the implementation of practical cooperation in the coming time.

Thank you very much, Minister!

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/chinh-tri/nang-tam-quan-he-viet-nam-lao-buoc-vao-giai-doan-gan-ket-chien-luoc-20251203124747902.htm