Full text of Vietnam - Laos Joint Statement

Lao Dong respectfully publishes the full text of the Vietnam - Laos Joint Statement on the occasion of the state visit of the General Secretary,President of Laos and his wife.

General Secretary and President To Lam and General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith. Photo: VNA

1. At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam , President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam To Lam and his wife, 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, together with a high-ranking delegation of the Lao Party and State, paid a state visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from September 10 to September 13, 2024. During the visit, General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith held talks with General Secretary and President To Lam; met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man; received a delegation from the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Vietnam - Laos Friendship Association; visited former high-ranking leaders of Vietnam; met with former volunteer soldiers, experts, Vietnamese students in Laos, representatives of the young generation of Vietnam and Lao students studying in Vietnam; laying wreaths at the Monument to Heroic Martyrs and visiting President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum; meeting, working with leaders and visiting a number of economic, cultural and historical establishments in Ho Chi Minh City. 2. In an atmosphere of friendship, special solidarity and deep trust, the two sides informed each other about the situation of each Party and each country; exchanged and agreed on orientations, policies and measures to continue to develop the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos in a profound, effective and substantive manner in all fields, contributing to the successful implementation of the Resolution of the Congress of each Party, the Cooperation Strategy between Vietnam and Laos for the period 2021-2030; and exchanged opinions on recent outstanding regional and international issues of mutual concern. 3. General Secretary and President To Lam, the Vietnamese leaders and General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith warmly congratulated and highly appreciated the great, comprehensive and historic achievements that each Party, State and people of the two countries have achieved in nearly 40 years of renovation and the important results achieved in implementing the Resolution of each Party's Congress; affirmed that the achievements of the two Parties and two countries have made important contributions to maintaining political stability, socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security, and expanding foreign relations of each country. The two sides expressed their firm belief that, under the wise leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, continuing the work of generations of Leaders of the two Parties and two countries, the cause of renovation, national construction and defense in Vietnam and Laos will continue to achieve new and greater achievements, successfully implementing the Resolution of the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the 11th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party; successfully organizing Party Congresses at all levels and the National Congress of each Party, building Vietnam and Laos to become increasingly prosperous, democratic, equitable and civilized, constantly enhancing the role and position of each country in the region and the world, steadily advancing on the path of socialism. 4. The two sides affirmed to continue the glorious historical traditions of the two peoples throughout the nearly century-long history; emphasizing the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, founded by the great President Ho Chi Minh, President Kaysone Phomvihane and President Souphanouvong, and nurtured by generations of leaders of the two Parties, two States and peoples, is a priceless common asset of the two nations, an objective necessity, a historical law and the greatest source of strength of the two countries, and a foundation for the two countries to promote and pass on to future generations. The two sides emphasized that Vietnam and Laos are not only two neighboring countries but two brotherly and comradely countries with a common origin from the Indochinese Communist Party, always steadfast in the goal of national independence and socialism; continue to give top priority to their foreign policies; stand side by side and support each other in the cause of innovation, construction, development and protection of the country today and in the future. The two Parties, two States and peoples of the two countries have the responsibility to jointly preserve, protect and foster the special solidarity relationship between Vietnam and Laos to develop to new heights, in depth, practically and effectively in all fields, on the basis of promoting the spirit of independence, self-reliance, self-reliance, equal and mutually beneficial cooperation, appropriately combining the special nature of the Vietnam - Laos relationship with international practices, giving priority and preferential treatment to each other, supporting, assisting and creating favorable conditions for each other to develop together for the prosperity of each country, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia and the world . The two sides sincerely thanked the great, valuable, wholehearted and righteous support and assistance that the two Parties, two States and peoples have given each other in the past struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as in the cause of national renovation, construction and development today. 5. The two sides agreed to continue to deepen political relations, which are the core of the overall orientation of the cooperative relationship between the two countries. Closely cooperate on strategic issues, guidelines and policies related to security and development of each country; maintain visits and meetings between high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and two countries in various forms; proactively increase exchanges of theories, information, and experience sharing on new issues in Party building, political system, socio -economic development, ensuring macroeconomic stability, and expanding international integration; organize well seminars and talks on new issues facing each Party and each country; coordinate in research, compilation, and publication of books on Kaysone Phomvihane Thought. The two sides will step up propaganda and education on the tradition of the special Vietnam-Laos relationship as well as the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia relationship among cadres, party members and people of all walks of life, especially the young generation and armed forces of the two countries; actively implement teaching at educational institutions of the two countries on the contents of the Ministry of History of the Vietnam-Laos Special Relationship; promptly start construction of a number of historical relics of significance in the Vietnam-Laos relationship; coordinate well in organizing the celebration of important events of the two Parties and two countries, including the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the 80th anniversary of Vietnam's National Day and the 50th anniversary of Laos' National Day.

The high-level meeting between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Lao People's Revolutionary Party was co-chaired by General Secretary and President To Lam and General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith. Photo: VNA

6. The two sides agreed to make strong efforts to promote and create breakthroughs in raising the level of cooperation in economics, culture, education, science and technology to match the stature of political relations on the basis of promoting the potential and strengths of each country; promote the effective implementation of cooperation agreements between the two governments and ministries, branches, localities and enterprises of the two countries. Continue to negotiate, amend or sign new agreements to suit the actual situation, creating a favorable legal corridor for cooperation, especially in the economic field, including the Vietnam - Laos Bilateral Cooperation Agreement for the period 2026-2030, the Transport Cooperation Strategy for the period 2026-2030. The two sides have specific measures to enhance connectivity and complementarity between the two economies of Vietnam - Laos and between the three economies of Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia, especially connectivity in terms of institutions, finance, transport infrastructure, electricity, telecommunications, and tourism. Promote the mobilization of appropriate international partners to participate in cooperation and support strategic connectivity projects between the two countries. Focus on improving the quality and efficiency of investment cooperation, focusing on implementing key projects to ensure progress and quality; enhance the exchange of experience in macroeconomic management between the two countries; have preferential policies to encourage businesses of the two countries to invest in areas with the most potential and strengths of both sides, such as energy (clean energy, renewable energy), digital transformation, technology, agriculture , minerals, and tourism. Promote the implementation of the model of border gate economic zones across the border on the East-West economic corridor. The two sides strive to implement solutions to maintain an average growth of 10-15% per year in bilateral trade turnover; promote trade promotion activities, build brands, and distribution channels for Vietnamese and Lao goods in each country to create sustainable output for products and goods; promote the use of local currencies between the two countries in trade and investment transactions. Vietnam creates all favorable conditions for Laos to export and import goods through Vietnamese seaports. The two sides emphasized the strategic importance of cooperation in the fields of education, training and human resource development, thereby continuing to effectively implement the Protocol on training cooperation between the two Governments for the 2022-2027 period; promote the implementation of tasks and solutions identified in the Project to improve the quality and effectiveness of Vietnam-Laos cooperation for the 2021-2030 period; Strengthen short-term training and fostering for Lao officials and civil servants at all levels, especially managers, focusing on training high-quality human resources. Promote cooperation in skills development and vocational training at both central and local levels. The two sides closely coordinate to effectively implement cooperation in other areas such as law, justice; culture, sports, tourism; health, science, technology and innovation; information and communications; labor and society. Speed ​​up the implementation of cooperation projects between the two countries. The two sides effectively implement the Agreement on Overseas Vietnamese, the Agreement on Consular Affairs, the Agreement on Labor between the two countries, the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil Matters; create favorable conditions for Vietnamese people in Laos and Lao people in Vietnam to live, work and study in accordance with the laws of each country and international practices. 7. The two sides emphasized the importance and agreed to further strengthen the pillar of cooperation in defense and security, ensuring a solid support for each other to cope with increasingly diverse and complex security challenges, contributing to maintaining political stability, defense and security in each country. Effectively implement the Protocol and Plan for cooperation in defense and security; Agreement on regulations for border management and land border gates; Protocol on border lines and border markers. Build a peaceful , stable and sustainably developing Vietnam - Laos border; affirm that the security of one country is also the security of the other; do not allow hostile forces to take advantage of the territory of one country to sabotage the other and to cause division in the relationship between the two countries. Strengthen information exchange, closely cooperate in preventing and combating "peaceful evolution", "riotous overthrow", prevent and combat transnational crimes, especially drug crimes; continue to coordinate efforts to search for, collect and repatriate the remains of martyrs, volunteer soldiers and Vietnamese experts who died in Laos and to restore the monuments of the Vietnam-Laos fighting alliance. 8. The two sides agreed to increase timely information exchange, consultation, close coordination and effective mutual support at international and regional forums, especially within the framework of ASEAN cooperation and ASEAN-led mechanisms, the United Nations, Mekong Sub-region cooperation mechanisms, the World Trade Organization, the Asia-Europe Cooperation Forum, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. The two sides will strengthen coordination with Cambodia to effectively implement the Conclusion of the Meeting between the three leaders of the three Parties of Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia; the Agreement between the three Prime Ministers on the Cambodia - Laos - Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle Area, the Joint Statement between the three Chairmen of the National Assembly; Actively implement the Action Plan to connect the three economies of Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia until 2030, the cooperation mechanism between the three Ministers of National Defense and Public Security and establish new cooperation mechanisms between the three Ministers of Foreign Affairs , Planning and Investment, Transport, Culture - Sports - Tourism of the three countries. Vietnam supports and assists Laos in successfully assuming the role of ASEAN Chair and AIPA Chair in 2024. The two sides agreed to continue to strengthen cooperation and close coordination with the Mekong sub-region countries, partners and relevant international organizations in managing and using water resources and other resources effectively, equitably and sustainably, while monitoring and examining impacts comprehensively, including transnational impacts, exchanging information related to meteorology and hydrology along with early warning to improve the capacity to prevent drought and floods, contributing to sustainable development in the Mekong sub-region in line with the common interests of the Mekong riparian countries. The two sides closely coordinate within the framework of the 1995 Mekong Cooperation Agreement on sustainable development cooperation in the Mekong sub-region as well as within the framework of the member countries of the International Mekong Commission and other relevant cooperation mechanisms, promoting and enhancing the integration of sub-regional cooperation mechanisms and the process of building the ASEAN community; encourage ASEAN countries and partners outside the region to actively participate in supporting and investing in the Mekong sub-region in important areas such as infrastructure connectivity, energy, innovative technology and human resource development in the spirit of “one Mekong, one ideal” cooperation. The two sides affirmed their high consensus on ASEAN’s principled stance on the East Sea issue stated in ASEAN’s Statements. Emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace, stability, ensuring security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, resolving disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), together with relevant parties promoting the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon reaching a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) that is substantive, effective and consistent with international law, including UNCLOS 1982. 9. The two sides agreed to continue promoting and improving the effectiveness of cooperation between Party committees, ministries, branches of the Government, agencies of the National Assembly , Fatherland Fronts, mass organizations, people's organizations and localities of the two countries, especially localities sharing a common border. Actively exchange information, share experiences, help and support each other for mutual development; enhance people-to-people exchanges, especially between the young generations of the two countries. 10. The two sides agreed and highly appreciated the good results of the State visit to Vietnam by General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith and the State visit to Laos by Comrade To Lam in his capacity as President in July 2024, which were milestones in the history of Vietnam - Laos relations, contributing significantly to consolidating and nurturing the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos to new heights, for the prosperity of the people of the two countries, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world. General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith and his wife sincerely thank General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife, senior leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people for their warm and respectful welcome, which deeply demonstrates the special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos; respectfully invite General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife; and senior leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam to pay an official visit to Laos. General Secretary and President To Lam and the senior leaders of Vietnam sincerely thank and happily accept the invitation; the specific times of the visits will be arranged through diplomatic channels. Hanoi , September 13, 2024

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