Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith is on a three-day visit to Vietnam beginning on January 2, during which he will co-chair a meeting of the intergovernmental committee with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and Vietnam PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Photo: VGP

The two governments’ leaders have a clear target of tripling the bilateral trade in 2020 from around US$1.2 billion in 2019, local media reported.

The two PMs will review their economic-commercial results in 2018 and agree on actions to boost them in the coming year at the 42nd Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee.

Laos, on the other hand, is interested in seeing Vietnam increase its investments there, currently amounting to US$4.22 billion in more than 400 projects, making Vietnam the third largest investor in that country.

Thongloun Sisoulith was in Hanoi last October when he met with Vietnamese leaders and signed eight cooperation agreements.

In a joint statement summarizing the results of that visit, the parties expressed their willingness to strengthen economic-commercial relations and a friendship that they considered “special”.

Vietnam and Laos share a long border, long-lasting historical and cultural ties, common struggles for independence, and close commercial and economic ties.

“The bilateral cooperation ties in politics have climbed to new heights witnessed by the regular visits of each other’s high-ranking leaders from the two parties and governments,” Lao media reported.

The phrase “special relations” came into general use by both parties after 1976, and in July 1977, the signing of the Lao-Vietnamese Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation opened up a new era for the relationship.

Another element of cooperation involved hundreds of Vietnamese advisers who mentored their Lao counterparts in virtually all socio-economic sectors of the neighboring country.

The Vietnam-Laos relationship was the common invaluable treasure of the two nations and an important element ensuring the success of the revolutionary cause of each country, said a joint statement issued on June 22, 2011 in Vientiane, Laos.

The joint statement noted that the Party, State and people of Vietnam and Laos affirmed the importance, strategic significance, as well as determination to maintain and promote the bilateral traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation in the new stage.

The Lao government is anxious to promote trade and investment from Vietnam, but after more than thirty years the economic links between the two nations are still frail.