Vietnamese, Lao PMs join traditional Tet celebration in Vientiane

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith joined about 1,000 Vietnamese people in Laos at a celebration for the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival in Vientiane on February 4.

Participants at the celebration 

Opening the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung said that in 2017, with joint efforts of the two Parties, States and Governments, the Vietnam-Laos relationship was reinforced and promoted in all fields.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese community in Laos continued showing solidarity and good integration into the local society, he added.

Welcoming the Lao PM and his wife’s presence at the celebration, PM Phuc stressed that the Vietnam-Laos special friendship is rare in the world, going through not only the past struggle for national independence but also the current national construction in each country.

He highlighted that the Vietnamese community in Laos is an important factor in the bilateral friendship and partnership.

The PM also proposed that the Lao side continue supporting Overseas Vietnamese in Laos, creating optimal conditions for them to live and work in the country for a long-term.

For his part, Lao PM Thongloun Sisoulith conveyed New Year wishes to PM Phuc, national leaders of Vietnam and all Vietnamese people.

He showed his belief that the friendship between the two Parties, States and people will continue thriving.

Earlier the same day, PM Phuc had a meeting with the Vietnamese Embassy’s official and the Vietnamese community in Laos.

Vietnamese, Lao PMs attend training centre’s inaugural ceremony

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (4th, L) and Prime Minister Thoonglun Sisulit (4th, R) and other delegates at the ceremony.

Prime Ministers of Vietnam and Laos Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Thoonglun Sisulit attended a ceremony to inaugurate the scientific and technological human resources training centre in Vientiane, Laos on February 4.

The centre is a symbol of science and technology cooperation between Vietnam and Laos as it was built by the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology following the 35th meeting of the Inter-governmental Committee on Economic, Cultural, Educational, Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Vietnam and Laos in Vietnam’s Vinh Phuc province on December 19, 2012.

The Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam and Laos worked closely and launched construction of the centre in September 2015 and made the final touches on the work in December 2017.

Built at the cost of over 98 billion VND from the Vietnamese Government’s ODA source, the centre is capable of training 600-800 scientific managerial officials a year and is a working place of a 70-member staff.

In 2012-2017, 308 Lao officials received short-term and long-term training in Vietnam and the figure is modest compared with Laos’s demands and orientations to develop a strong contingent of scientific and technological officials.  

Therefore, the centre will help the Lao Ministry of Science and Technology meet the development goals and tasks assigned by the Lao Party and Government to make use of science and technology as a main driver of the national socio-economic growth.

Addressing the event, Minister of Science and Technology of Vietnam Chu Ngoc Anh expressed his hope that the Lao Ministry of Science and Technology will continue working closely with the Vietnamese counterpart on the centre’s operation.

Lao Minister of Science and Technology Boviengkham Vongdara showed his profound gratitude to the Party, State and Government of Vietnam for their assistance and support to the Lao people. He also thanked the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology for its wholehearted assistance to the Lao counterpart.

The centre’s first course will be on creative renovation for 50 managerial officials from the Lao Ministry of Science and Technology, other ministries and sectors and businesses.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is in Laos for the 40th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-government Committee to which he is the co-chair.

Vietnamese, Lao PMs visit Star Telecom

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) shakes hands with his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith at the inaugural ceremony of the Star Telecom's new headquarters 

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith on February 4 visited telecommunications company Star Telecom, a joint venture between Lao Asia Telecom and Vietnam’s Viettel Group.

PM Phuc praised Star Telecom for actively developing its infrastructure system, especially the construction and early deployment of a 4G network in Laos. He also highly appreciated the success of mobile operator Unitel, which is a trademark of Star Telecom, through the very good indicators of turnover and development of telecommunications infrastructure.

He urged Unitel to apply the 4.0 industrial revolution as the basis for future success.

Along with that, Star Telecom should further expand its participation in building smart cities and e-government if required by the Lao government, he said, adding that the company should continue to make important contributions to Laos’s development of science and technology.

He noted that Star Telecom would be the flagship in the two countries’ science and technology development cooperation, thereby contributing more and more to be special friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos.

PM Sisoulith expressed his joy and welcomed achievements in the business of Star Telecom for becoming one of the largest contributors to the budget and contributing positively to the socio-economic development of Laos.

He congratulated Star Telecom on its new headquarters, one of the most beautiful buildings in the country, and expressed his hope that the company would continue to achieve more in production and business in the future.

The Unitel Building (Star Telecom headquarters) is located on the main road in the centre of Vientiane, with 11 floors. Construction started in May 2015 with total investment of about 12 million USD.

According to Cao Anh Son, CEO of Star Telecom, in nine years of business, Unitel has become the leading telecom operator in Laos for seven consecutive years with 2.8 million customers, accounting for 52 percent of the market share.

It has the largest network infrastructure with 6,000 2G/3G/4G stations, covering 95 percent of the country.

Star Telecom had also been entrusted by the Lao Government to deploy key e-government systems for the country such as coordinating with the Ministry of Posts and Telematics for a Lao font system, the Ministry of Education and Sports for an online learning and examination portal and the Ministry of Civil Affairs for a citizen administration system,

“In the future, Unitel is committed to continue to improve its products and services to maintain the leading position and at the same time, pioneer the implementation of the 4.0 industrial revolution in finance and banking solutions, e-commerce, digital content stores on health, education and entertainment to continue contributing to country building,” Son said.

VNA