1. At the invitation of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam 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 National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man; received a delegation from the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Vietnam - Laos Friendship Association; visited former senior leaders of Vietnam; met with former volunteer soldiers, experts, Vietnamese students studying in Laos, representatives of the young generation of Vietnam and Lao students studying in Vietnam; laid wreaths at the Monument to Heroic Martyrs and visited President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum; met and worked with leaders and visited 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 and 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 protection 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, and steadily advancing on the path of socialism.
4. The two sides affirmed to continue the glorious historical tradition of the two peoples throughout the nearly century-long history; emphasized the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, founded by the great President Ho Chi Minh, President Kaysone Phomvihane and beloved President Souphanouvong, and cultivated by generations of leaders of the two Parties, two States and peoples, which is a priceless common asset of the two peoples, 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 also two brotherly and comradely countries with the same 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 two Peoples have the responsibility to jointly preserve, protect and foster the special solidarity relationship between Vietnam and Laos to increasingly 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 each other for the great, valuable, wholehearted support and assistance that the two Parties, States and Peoples have given each other in the past struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as in the cause of national renewal, 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.
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 and arrangements 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, and the Transport Cooperation Strategy for the period 2026-2030.
The two sides have specific measures to enhance connectivity and support 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; increase 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 where both sides have the most potential and strengths, 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 the average growth of bilateral trade turnover by 10-15%/year; 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 Vietnam's 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 period 2022-2027; promoting the implementation of tasks and solutions identified in the Project to improve the quality and effectiveness of Vietnam-Laos cooperation for the period 2021-2030; enhancing short-term training and fostering for Lao officials and civil servants at all levels, especially managers, focusing on training high-quality human resources. Promoting cooperation in skills development and vocational training at both central and local levels.
The two sides closely coordinate to effectively implement cooperation in other fields such as law, justice; culture, sports, tourism; health, science, technology and innovation; information and communication; labor and society. Speed up the implementation of cooperation projects between the two countries.
The two sides have effectively implemented the Agreement on Overseas Vietnamese, the Agreement on Consular Affairs, the Agreement on Labor between the two countries, and the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil Matters; creating 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 deal 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 on defense and security; the Agreement on land border and border gate management regulations; the 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 let hostile forces take advantage of the territory of one country to sabotage the other and cause division in the relationship between the two countries.
Strengthen information exchange and close cooperation in preventing and combating “peaceful evolution” and “violent overthrow”, preventing and combating 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 monuments to the Vietnam-Laos fighting alliance.
8. The two sides agreed to enhance 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, and 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 the Ministries 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 associated 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, promote and strengthen 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 the ASEAN Statements. They stressed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, ensuring security, safety, freedom of navigation and overflight 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), and working with relevant parties to promote the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon reaching a substantive, effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.
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, the Fatherland Front, mass organizations, people's organizations and localities of the two countries, especially those sharing a border. Actively exchange information, share experiences, help and support each other for mutual development; increase 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 respectfully thanked 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 demonstrated the special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos; respectfully invited 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 other senior Vietnamese leaders sincerely thanked and happily accepted the invitation. The specific times of the visits will be arranged through diplomatic channels.
Hanoi, September 13, 2024
