Top Lao leader visits former Party General Secretary in Hanoi

General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith on January 27 paid a visit to Nong Duc Manh, former General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

At the meeting, Manh said that the Lao leader’s state visit to Vietnam helps reaffirm the foreign policies of both countries, which places special importance on preserving and continuously strengthening their great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic cohesion.

He expressed his delight at witnessing the great and historically significant achievements that the Party, State, and people of Laos have attained after 40 years of renewal. He voiced his firm belief that under the leadership of the LPRP, headed by General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith, Laos will continue to develop stably and sustainably, with its people's improved living standards and an increasingly strengthened international position.

On this occasion, he respectfully extended his warm regards and best wishes for good health to former Party General Secretary and President of Laos, Choummaly Sayasone and former Party General Secretary and President Bounnhang Vorachith.

For his part, Party General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith sincerely thanked the Party, State, and people of Vietnam for their wholehearted, sincere, selfless, and effective support and assistance to Laos during its past struggle for national independence as well as its current national construction and development.

He expressed his deep impression of Vietnam’s major and comprehensive achievements in recent years, affirming that these accomplishments are closely linked to the important contributions of previous generations of Vietnamese leaders, including former General Secretary Manh. The Lao leader stressed that this visit, with the participation of many senior leaders from Lao ministries and agencies, demonstrates the strong political determination of the Lao Party and State to work closely with Vietnam to implement high-level resolutions and agreements. He stressed their shared commitment to further nurturing the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic cohesion between Vietnam and Laos, making the relationship ever more solid, effective, and practical.

Both sides affirmed that the special Vietnam-Laos relationship, diligently nurtured by Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh and Lao Presidents Kaysone Phomvihane and Souphanouvong, is an invaluable common asset and a vital factor for the existence and development of both nations.

They agreed to continue preserving, protecting, and deepening the rare and special ties, to enhance strategic connectivity, to improve the effectiveness of substantive cooperation, and to place greater emphasis on educating the younger generations of both countries so that they may carry forward the special solidarity./.