General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee To Lam held talks with General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith in Vientiane on February 5 as part of his state visit to Laos.
At the talks, Thongloun Sisoulith warmly welcomed To Lam’s decision to choose Laos as the first country to visit after assuming the position of General Secretary of the 14th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).
He affirmed that the state visit by To Lam and the high-level Vietnamese delegation carries special historical significance for bilateral relations, particularly as it includes the participation of Vietnam’s Prime Minister and National Assembly Chairman.
He described the visit as a strong political message showing the highest level of trust between the two Parties and countries, the rare and special solidarity between the two nations, and the high importance attached by the CPV and General Secretary To Lam personally to Vietnam-Laos relations.
The top Lao leader expressed appreciation for the warm and respectful reception extended by Vietnam to the Lao high-level delegation during its state visit to Vietnam in late January.
He voiced confidence that the historic visit would continue to strengthen and forge the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and strategic connectivity between Vietnam and Laos, bringing practical benefits to the people of both countries.
Thongloun Sisoulith hailed Vietnam’s major and comprehensive achievements with historic significance after 40 years of renewal, especially during the tenure of the 13th National Party Congress.
He once again congratulated the success of the 14th National Party Congress and expressed confidence that under the CPV leadership, headed by To Lam, Vietnam would secure further significant accomplishments, successfully implement the Resolution of the 14th Congress and realise its two centenary goals.
For his part, To Lam congratulated Laos on the successful organization of the 12th National Congress of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, describing it as a milestone marking a new stage in the revolutionary cause of the Lao Party, State and people.
He praised the major achievements of historic importance gained by Laos over four decades of consistently implementing its comprehensive and principled renewal policy, steadily developing a socialist-oriented economy, maintaining socio-political stability, and expanding external relations, thereby enhancing the country’s regional and international standing.
To Lam welcomed the strategic development goals set by the 12th Congress and expressed confidence that the Central Committee, Politburo and Secretariat of the 12th tenure of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, led by Thongloun Sisoulith, would continue promoting revolutionary traditions, strengthening unity, self-reliance and innovation, and guiding Laos to successfully achieve its strategic objectives, including development goals through 2055 marking the Party’s centenary, with the ambition of becoming an upper-middle-income country and moving closer to the high-income group.
To Lam affirmed that the CPV always regards the successes of Laos as shared achievements and consistently supports Laos’s national development. He stated that the CPV stands ready to work closely with the LPRP to further deepen the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and strategic connectivity between the two countries, highlighting the relationship as an invaluable asset, a rule of development and a key factor ensuring the success of each country’s revolutionary cause both now and in the future.
Both leaders expressed satisfaction with the substantive and effective progress in Vietnam-Laos cooperation in recent years, noting that such results not only contribute directly to each country’s development but also support regional peace, stability and prosperity.
The two sides reached a high level of consensus on the foundation of their special solidarity, agreeing to continue giving top priority to implementing high-level agreements and the joint statement reached in December 2025, as well as outcomes of Thongloun Sisoulith’s recent state visit to Vietnam. They highly valued the swift translation of these agreements into practical actions by relevant agencies of both countries.
They agreed that, alongside positive results achieved so far, both sides would continue reforming cooperation approaches and improving efficiency, thus ensuring closer links between strategic vision and concrete implementation while strengthening strategic coordination between the two Parties and countries.
Accelerating implementation of strategic projects
Based on long-term orientations agreed upon by both sides, the leaders identified priority tasks to be carried out during the current tenure in order to realise strategic connectivity between the two countries, as both Parties are implementing congress resolutions and preparing socio-economic development plans for the 2026-2030 period.
Accordingly, both sides will intensify information exchange and share experience in implementing Party congress resolutions. They also concurred to strengthen economic integration, prioritise resource mobilisation, coordinate closely and accelerate strategic projects to create new momentum for economic, trade, investment and regional development cooperation, with the goal of raising bilateral trade to USD 10 billion in the coming period. Cooperation in education, training and human resource development, particularly high-quality human resources, will continue to be identified as a long-term strategic cooperation pillar.
Both sides also consented to expand cultural exchanges and people-to-people ties, especially among younger generations, and strengthen cooperation in information and communication to widely promote the tradition of Vietnam-Laos special solidarity, thereby reinforcing mutual understanding and cultural foundations between the two peoples.
They agreed upon the need to establish a government-level monitoring mechanism to review cooperation results and promptly resolve difficulties to ensure projects are implemented as scheduled and in line with agreements.
On this occasion, the leaders also compared notes on global and regional developments and agreed to strengthen consultation and coordination at multilateral forums, enhance unity within ASEAN and reinforce ASEAN’s central role.
On the occasion of the Lunar New Year, on behalf of the Lao Party, State and people, Thongloun Sisoulith extended warm fraternal New Year greetings to the Party, State and people of Vietnam, wishing the country further successes.
Following the talks, host and guest witnessed the signing and exchange of important cooperation documents between ministries, sectors, localities and relevant agencies of both countries in education, justice and local-level cooperation, contributing to strengthening the legal foundation and adding fresh impetus to further realizing strategic cohension in bilateral relations.