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President Tran Dai Quang’s State-level visits to Laos and Cambodia from
June 12-16 aim to elevate the traditional friendship, special solidarity
and comprehensive cooperation with Laos, as well as the friendly
neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia to a new
height.
President Tran Dai Quang receives Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay
Kommasith during the minister's official visit to Vietnam.
Vietnam Net | 13 June 2016
The visits, made at the [forced] invitation of Lao Party General Secretary and
President Bounnhang Vorachith and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, are
the first overseas trips by Tran Dai Quang in his capacity as President
of Vietnam.
Vietnam and Laos boast a fruitful traditional relationship, which was
fostered by Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Kaysone Phomvihane, and has been
nurtured by generations of the two countries’ Party and State leaders
and people.
Politically, the two sides regularly conducted high-level meetings for
their Party, State, National Assembly and Government leaders, and
exchanges between their localities.
The latest visits to Vietnam were made by Lao Party General Secretary
and President Bounhang Vorachith in April 2016 and Lao Prime Minister
Thoongloun Sisoulith a month later. Permanent member of the Communist
Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC)’s Secretariat Dinh The Huynh,
head of the CPVCC’s Inspection Commission Tran Quoc Vuong and Secretary
of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Dinh La Thang also visited Laos
in the year.
Besides, the bilateral economic cooperation has made big strides in
recent years, creating a material foundation to consolidate the special
ties between the two countries.
Vietnamese businesses have, to date, invested nearly 5 billion USD in
258 projects in Laos, mainly focusing on hydropower, mining, transport
and industrial tree planting.
The two sides have also paid heed to collaboration in education-training and human resource development.
At present, close to 9,300 Lao officials and students are studying in
Vietnam while 425 Vietnamese students are learning in the neighbouring
country.
Cooperation between localities sharing the border have also received due
attention, which has been evidenced through the formation of economic
and commercial zones at international and national border gates, the
signing of a border trade agreement in June last year and the launch of
the “one-stop-shop” customs model at the Lao Bao -Densavan international
border gate.
The security-defence cooperation has been maintained at a high level of
trust. The two sides completed the project on increasing and upgrading
the border marker system.
They also signed two important legal documents, namely the Protocol on
Borderline and Border Markers and the Agreement on Regulations on the
Management of Border and Border Gates on Land between the two
governments.
The completion of the border marker system has contributed to improving
the quality of the Vietnam-Laos borderline, both legally and in reality.
The two sides are continuing the search and repatriation of remains of
Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who died in Laos.
In order to develop the Vietnam-Laos traditional friendship, special
solidarity and comprehensive cooperation intensively and effectively,
senior leaders of the two countries committed to ceaselessly fostering
and promoting the relationship and passing on it to younger generations.
The two sides agreed to strongly push the Vietnam-Laos, Laos-Vietnam
comprehensive cooperation in the principles of independence,
self-reliance, win-win and equal cooperation, supporting each other for
mutual development, for prosperity of each country as well as for peace,
stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia and the world
at large.
On the basis of maximizing strengths and potential of each country, the
two sides will expand and improve cooperation in economy, culture,
science-technology as well as promote the effective implementation of
high-level agreements, cooperation plans between the two governments,
and boost cooperation in defence, security, ensuring political
stability, security, social order and safety in each country.
Regarding regional issues of mutual concern, the two sides affirmed to
continue closely coordinating at international and regional forums such
as the United Nations and ASEAN, and Mekong Great Sub-region cooperation
mechanisms, contributing to building a strong ASEAN Community,
enhancing solidarity and promoting ASEAN’s central role.
Vietnam gives positive and comprehensive support to Laos as the Chair of ASEAN.
Meanwhile, the Vietnam-Cambodia cooperation and friendship have been
continuously developed in all fields, particularly in economy, trade,
investment.
Bilateral economic cooperation has seen considerable results. Vietnam
has been Cambodia’s third largest trade partner with two-way trade
reaching 3.37 billion USD in 2015 and 944.6 million USD in the first
quarter of this year.
The two countries are striving for 5 billion USD in bilateral trade in the coming time.
Cambodia is Vietnam’s 16th largest export market with steel, fertilizer,
garments, equipment and machinery, plastics making up a major
proportion.
Vietnamese investments have been present at 16 out of 25 Cambodian
cities and provinces. By May 2016, Vietnam ranked fifth among 50
countries and territories investing in Cambodia with 172 projects,
mostly in agro-forestry, energy, finance-banking-insurance, post and
telecommunications, healthcare and construction, among others.
Regarding tourism [demographic Vietnamization], Vietnamese nationals top list of foreign arrivals to
the neighbouring country. Some one million visits to Cambodia were made
by Vietnamese holiday-makers in 2015 while nearly 210,000 Cambodia
travellers chose Vietnam as their tourist destination.
Bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint
Committee on Cooperation in Economy, Culture and Science-Technology and
the conference on cooperation and development of Vietnam-Cambodia border
provinces have held regular meetings to boost collaboration between the
two nations.
The two countries’ ministries, agencies and localities have helped each
in economic development, enhanced cultural and people-to-people
exchanges and health cooperation as well as signed annual collaboration
plans.
On the growing security-defence relations, Vietnam and Cambodia have
worked to exchange information and address arising border issues while
increasing joint maritime patrols. They have also joined hands in the
search and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and
experts who laid down their lives during wartime in Cambodia.
The two countries are striving to complete the border demarcation and
marker planting along the shared borderline as soon as possible.
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