State President Nguyen Minh Triet and Lao State President Choummaly Sayasone during the visit expressed delight at the initial results of implementing agreements reached by leaders of Viet Nam and Laos during an official visit to Viet Nam by Sayasone, who is also General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee in June 2006, as well as the official visit to Laos by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee Nong Duc Manh in October 2006 and at the 29th meeting of the Viet Nam-Laos Inter-governmental Committee on economic, cultural, scientific and technical co-operation in Ha Noi in January 2007.
 
The two Presidents welcomed concrete progress achieved in deploying comprehensive co-operation between the two countries, particularly advances in economic co-operation seen in the fields of trade and investment, transport, energy, hydro-power, industrial tree planting, and mining.
 
The two presidents stressed that, in the context of rapid international and regional developments, the enhancement and consolidation of the special solidarity and comprehensive co-operation between Viet Nam and Laos would be of even greater importance, ensuring the success of national construction and defence in each country.
 
They said that regular meetings between high-level leaders of Viet Nam and Laos were of decisive significance to the development of bilateral co-operative relations, and affirmed their determination to implement high-level agreements with the aim of bringing Viet Nam and Laos comprehensive co-operation to new heights.
 
In this spirit, the two sides agreed to increase education campaigns to raise public awareness in the two countries – particularly among younger generations – about the traditional friendship and special solidarity between Viet Nam and Laos. They decided to join efforts to organise various activities to mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties and the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Viet Nam-Laos Friendship and Co-operation Treaty.
 
The two presidents exchanged broad views on regional and international issues of mutual concern. The two sides emphasised the constant strengthening of solidarity and co-operation among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), bilateral co-ordination within the framework of ASEAN, the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) and the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Viet Nam (CLMV) Co-operation.
 
The Vietnamese side affirmed its support for Laos’s participation in international and regional organisations such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Lao side asserted its support for Viet Nam’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term.
 
The two sides agreed to continue co-ordinating with Cambodia to successfully build a development triangle among the three countries based on international assistance to economic projects in the area, taking into account preferential treatment for Laos and Cambodia.
 
On the last day of the trip, Triet visited Xieng Khuang Province where he met with local leaders and teachers and students at Khang Khay Teachers’ Training College.
 
The Vietnamese delegation also presented gifts worth over US$440,000 to Laos’s provinces, poor students and the disabled. (Sourse: www.vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn)