On the morning of January 26, the official welcoming ceremony for General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith and his wife Naly Sisoulith on state visits to Vietnam was solemnly held at the Presidential Palace according to the highest rituals for heads of state.
General Secretary To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly chaired the welcoming ceremony.
Attending the welcoming ceremony were Politburo members: Tran Cam Tu, Standing Secretary of the Secretariat; Le Minh Hung, Head of the Central Organization Committee; General Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defense; General Luong Tam Quang, Minister of Public Security; Pham Gia Tuc, Chief of the Party Central Committee Office; Le Hoai Trung, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Do Van Chien, Standing Vice Chairman of the National Assembly; Nguyen Duy Ngoc, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee.
Also participating in the welcoming ceremony were comrades: Vo Thi Anh Xuan, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Vice President; members of the Party Central Committee, leaders of ministries, departments, and central agencies; leaders of the Government, the General Secretary's Office and the Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos; along with Ambassadors and Charges of ASEAN countries in Vietnam.
Right from the early morning, a large number of teenagers, students and people of the Capital with Vietnamese and Lao flags and fresh flowers in their hands stood along both sides of Hoang Van Thu street leading to the Presidential Palace to joyfully welcome General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith and his wife and the high-level delegation of the Party and State of Laos.
At exactly 9:20 am, the procession of reception vehicles escorted by guide cars and guard cars brought General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith and his wife and delegation to the Presidential Palace.
The convoy stopped at the red carpet, in the sound of welcoming music, General Secretary To Lam and his wife shook hands, welcoming General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith and his wife on state visits to Vietnam. Students also sent fresh bouquets of flowers to the General Secretary and President of Laos and his wife.
Next, General Secretary To Lam respectfully invited General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith to step onto the podium of honor. A series of cannons echoed majestically. Military music performed the national anthem of the two countries.
General Secretary To Lam invites General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith to review the Honorary Team of the Vietnam People's Army.
After the honorary parade, General Secretary To Lam and General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith introduced the members of the high-level delegations of the two countries at the welcoming ceremony. The two leaders returned to the podium of honor, witnessing the welcoming military parade of the Vietnam People's Army Honorary Parade.
The visit takes place at a very important time for both countries when Laos has just successfully held the 12th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and comrade Thongloun Sisoulith has continued to be elected as General Secretary of the 12th Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party; Vietnam has also just successfully held the 14th National Congress of the Party and comrade To Lam has continued to be elected as General Secretary of the 14th Central Committee of the Party.
Immediately after the welcoming ceremony, General Secretary To Lam and the high-level delegation of Vietnam and General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith and the high-level delegation of Laos held talks at the Party Central Committee Headquarters.
