On March 5, at the Headquarters of the Ministry of National Defense (Hanoi), General Nguyen Tan Cuong - Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the Central Military Commission, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, Deputy Minister of National Defense - presided over the official welcoming ceremony for the high-ranking military delegation of the Lao People's Army.
After the welcoming ceremony, the two delegations held talks. On behalf of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, General Nguyen Tan Cuong congratulated Lieutenant General Saichay Kommasith on being appointed by the Lao Party and State to hold the position of Deputy Minister of National Defense and Chief of the General Staff of the Lao People's Army.
General Nguyen Tan Cuong believes that in his new position, Lieutenant General Saichay Kommasith will contribute to the development of the Lao People's Army and the increasingly strong cooperation between the two armies of Laos and Vietnam.
General Nguyen Tan Cuong emphasized that in recent times, the defense cooperation in general, and the cooperation between the General Staff of the two peoples' armies of Vietnam and Laos in particular, have achieved real results, continuing to affirm itself as one of the important pillars in the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Laos.
The two sides have closely coordinated in effectively advising the Party and State leaders on strategic military and defense issues of each country.
Military-Civilian cooperation has been implemented substantially and effectively. The border areas and the Border Guards of the two countries have coordinated well in ensuring security, order, and social safety in the border area.
Human resource training cooperation continues to be given special importance by both sides in terms of both quantity and quality; Logistics and defense industry cooperation is focused on promoting.
At the meeting, the two sides also discussed the world and regional situation of mutual concern and the military situation of each country.
In the coming time, based on the documents signed between the leaders of the two countries' Ministries of National Defense, the two sides agreed to focus on promoting cooperation in a number of key contents, including: Coordinating the effective implementation of cooperation contents according to the common perception of the two countries' senior leaders, especially the Vietnam - Laos Summit in 2024, the meeting between the leaders of the three countries of Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia (February 22, 2025); enhancing the sharing of strategic issues, through high-level meetings, the Defense Policy Dialogue mechanism; supporting Laos in establishing a United Nations peacekeeping force.
At the same time, the two sides strengthen cooperation between military branches and border protection forces of the two countries; attach importance to cooperation in human resource training; promote cooperation in logistics, information technology, and defense industry; continue to support each other in multilateral forums.
Also at the meeting, Lieutenant General Saichay Kommasith emphasized that the meeting between the two Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army and the Lao People's Army this time is of great significance, affirming that Vietnam - Laos defense cooperation in recent times has increasingly become more practical.
In 2024, cooperation between the two armies will be comprehensively developed in the fields of: Group exchange; training; military and service exchanges, etc. The two sides actively support each other in international forums.
Lieutenant General Saichay Kommasith agreed that in the coming time, the two sides will continue to promote cooperation on the basis of signed documents, contributing to further strengthening the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries and the two armies of Vietnam and Laos to be forever green and sustainable.
