President Tran Dai Quang and General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachith jointly hosted a press conference in Hanoi on December 20 to announce the conclusion of the Vietnam-Laos, Laos-Vietnam Friendship and Solidarity Year 2017.

General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachith speaks at the ceremony

The year of 2017 is significant for Vietnam and Laos, as the two countries celebrate the 55th anniversary of their diplomatic relations and 40 years of the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation, noted President Tran Dai Quang.

Along with the organisation of hundreds of activities, the two sides have exchanged 300 delegations at all levels, while working together in effectively implementing signed agreements and cooperation programmes and plans, thus lifting ties to a new height, he said.

He reviewed major celebration activities held during the year in both countries, including a youth friendship meeting and a programme on following footprints of Vietnamese and Lao leaders from October 30 to November 4 in Laos and from November 5-11 in Vietnam, which helped educate the two countries’ youngsters on the special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos.

The Vietnamese leader affirmed that the whole year of 2017 is a shared festival of the two nations, a success and a milestone in the Vietnam-Laos relations.

Sharing President Tran Dai Quang’s opinions, Bounnhang Vorachith said that the special relationship between Laos and Vietnam, founded by President Ho Chi Minh and President Kaysone Phomvihane and nurtured by many generations of leaders of both countries, is a priceless treasure of both peoples, and a decisive factor for the success of the revolutionary cause of both nations.

Vietnamese and Lao people can be proud of the steadiness and growth of the ties amidst the changing world and regional situations.

He stressed the need for people, especially youngsters of the two countries to be highly aware of their responsibility in preserving and developing the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive between Laos and Vietnam.

He affirmed that the Party, State and people of Laos will coordinate closely with the Vietnamese side to protect ties with Vietnam, which he described as an unlimited strength pushing the two countries to socialism.-VNA