NA Chaiman Tran Thanh Man (left) meets with Lao Vice President Pany Yathotou in Vientiane on October 17. (Photo: VNA)
With concrete results obtained, Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Tran Thanh Man’s freshly-ended official visit to Laos will surely create a new impetus for promoting Vietnam - Laos comprehensive and practical cooperation in various spheres, particularly economy, trade, and investment, on par with the sound political ties, said Chairman of the NA’s Committee for External Relations Vu Hai Ha.
During his stay in Laos from October 17-19, the top legislator also participated in the 45th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).
Talking to the press, Ha said this was the first trip to Laos and also the first participation in an AIPA General Assembly by Man as Chairman of the Vietnamese NA. Together with the State visit to the neighbouring country by President To Lam in July, and the attendance at the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits there by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh from October 8 to 11, Man’s visit continued affirming the Vietnamese Party and State’s consistent policy of attaching high importance to the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation with Laos.
At the Vietnamese leader’s talks and meetings with Party General Secretary and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, and NA President Saysomphone Phomvihane, the two sides discussed measures for further strengthening the special solidarity which is unique in the world between the two Parties, States, and people of the two nations.
They shared the view that on the basis of the very good political relations and high political trust, aside from the solid progress seen in defence - security cooperation, bilateral economic, trade, and investment partnerships should be fostered more strongly. In particular, it is necessary to effectively promote joint projects to contribute to each country’s development, Ha continued.
With regard to parliamentary collaboration, he went on, the Lao leaders spoke highly of the ties between the two NAs as seen in the sharing of law-making experiences, the enhancement of joint supervision over important and strategic economic cooperation projects, and the organisation of seminars on issues of common concern.
They also appreciated Vietnam's sharing of experiences in the amendment of the Constitution, the making of laws, as well as the building and perfection of socio-economic development policies.
At the meetings, the two sides held that these are highly effective cooperation forms and will continue to be implemented in the coming time, according Ha.
The official added that on the sidelines of AIPA-45, the NA Chairman also held bilateral meetings with heads of delegations of some member and observer countries to explore measures for stepping up the implementation of ASEAN’s plans and programmes and successfully building a united and strong ASEAN Community, towards the 10th anniversary of this community in 2025.
Within the AIPA-45 framework, the Vietnamese delegation proposed several initiatives and resolutions at the AIPA young parliamentarians’ meeting, the AIPA women parliamentarians’ meeting, along with sessions of the AIPA Social Committee and Economic Committee to help enhance the role of parliaments and parliamentarians in bolstering socio-economic development, as well as the coordination in building national and regional mechanisms and policies, with a priority given to connecting transport networks.
The Vietnamese delegation also joined others in considering the co-sponsorship of six other resolutions, including five proposed by Laos and one by Indonesia, Laos, and Malaysia. These resolutions focused on fostering the role of AIPA member parliaments in promoting the connectivity and harmonious development in ASEAN via political - security cooperation, fostering the role of parliaments in boosting the mobilisation of green capital for sustainable infrastructure development towards the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision, and attracting parliaments’ attention to the building of a sustainable, inter-connected, and integrated ASEAN Community.
Therefore, Vietnam made concrete contributions to 10 of the over 20 planned resolutions of AIPA-45, Ha added./.
