On the afternoon of May 12, in Hanoi, General Secretary and President To Lam received a high-level delegation of Vientiane Capital, Laos, led by Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Vientiane Capital Athsaphangthong Siphandone, who is on a visit and working trip to Vietnam.
General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized that cooperation between localities, especially between Hanoi capital and Vientiane capital, plays a very important role, being pioneering and leading locomotives to effectively implement the Party's foreign policy, and being a place to connect politics with development; between strategy and specific actions.
In the context of the world and regional situation developing in a complex and unpredictable manner, especially 2026 is the year that opens a new stage of cooperation between the two countries, General Secretary and President To Lam emphasized the requirement set for the two countries to elevate cooperation towards substance, efficiency, sustainability, close linkage between political cooperation and socio-economic development, and linkage between the people of the two countries and the two capitals.
On that basis, General Secretary and President To Lam proposed that with the role and position of capitals of the two countries, Hanoi and Vientiane must take the lead and be role models in local cooperation; must deepen and make the cooperative relationship between the two sides more effective. In the spirit of "comrades, brothers", Hanoi needs to clearly define the responsibility to closely coordinate with the capital Vientiane, strengthen information exchange, share experiences, and support each other in all fields. The goal is to jointly develop, jointly improve capacity, and at the same time contribute to consolidating and deepening the special relationship between Vietnam and Laos.
General Secretary and President emphasized that, entering a new phase, the two sides need to seriously and effectively implement the signed Cooperation Agreement. The two capitals' agencies need to be more proactive and drastic; concretize it with practical programs and projects, with focus and key points, with specific products. Review, urge, remove difficulties, accelerate the progress of implementing the committed contents; focus on practical areas such as: economy, science and technology, education and training, health, poverty reduction... ensuring substance and effectiveness.
Speaking at the reception, Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Vientiane Capital Athsaphangthong Siphandone reported to the General Secretary and President on the activities taking place within the framework of the visit, informed about the socio-economic development situation of Vientiane Capital recently; the cooperation situation between Vientiane Capital and localities of Vietnam; expressed gratitude for the good, sincere and meaningful assessments of General Secretary and President To Lam on the special relationship between the two countries, on the cooperation situation between Vientiane Capital and localities of Vietnam, especially with Hanoi Capital.
Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Vientiane Capital Athsaphangthong Siphandone affirmed that the City Party Committee of Vientiane will continue to promote good traditions, closely coordinate with localities of Vietnam in effectively implementing high-level agreements and memorandums of understanding signed, contributing to bringing the special relationship between Vietnam and Laos to develop even more strongly.
