Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (right) hosted a reception for Vice President of the Lao National Assembly Bounpone Bouttanavong in Hanoi on August 20. (Photo: VNA)

The host said the Vietnamese NA highly values Bounpone Bouttanavong’s visit andconsiders consolidating and developing the Vietnam-Laos relationship astrategic task.

She briefed her guest on Vietnam’s socio-economic situation, with gross domesticproduct (GDP) expected to grow 6.76 percent in 2019.  

Ngan rejoiced at the implementation of documents signed by Vietnamese and Laotop legislators and urged the Committees for External Relations of the twolegislatures to set forth a cooperation plan for 2020, aiming to improve theefficiency of collaboration.
For his part, Bounpone Bouttanavong informed thehost about outcomes of his talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Phung QuocHien.

The two sides agreed to continue their coordination in organising high-levelvisits of legislative leaders, thematic seminars for agencies of the parliamentsand training courses on law building, the Lao legislator said, expressing hishope that the legislatures will step up their cooperation in the time ahead.

He highlighted the success of the recent seventh conference of externalrelations committees of Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian parliaments in Vietnam’snorthern province of Quang Ninh.

Laos will closely coordinate with Vietnam when the country assumes the role asChair of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEANInter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in 2020.

Host and guest shared the views that the Lao NA House is a significant projectto the Vietnamese and Lao Parties, States, NAs and peoples, and pledged to maintaintheir close coordination in order to ensure the quality and progress of theproject.

On this occasion, Bounpone Bouttanavong conveyed the invitation of NA PresidentPany Yathotou to the Vietnamese top legislator to soon visit Laos. NAChairwoman Ngan accepted the invitation with pleasure.-VNA