High-level meeting of NAs to intensify relations among Indochina countries: Lao official

The first high-level meeting among the National Assemblies (NA) of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam (CLV), to be held in Vientiane in the next few days, aims to enhance the friendship, solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation among the three countries, including their legislative bodies, Vice Chairwoman of the Lao NA Sounthone Xayachak said.

Vice Chairwoman of the Lao NA Sounthone Xayachak grants an interview to the Vietnam News Agency. (Photo: VNA)

The first high-level meeting among the National Assemblies (NA) of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam (CLV), to be held in Vientiane in the next few days, aims to enhance the friendship, solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation among the three countries, including their legislative bodies, Vice Chairwoman of the Lao NA Sounthone Xayachak said.

In a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Xayachak said it is an honour for the Lao NA to host the first high-level meeting, an important event in the histories of the three NAs.

Since 2009, the three NAs have rotationally held annual committee-level meetings such as those among the committees for external relations; defence - security; and planning, finance, and auditing. At the sixth session of the committees for external relations in Laos in 2018, they agreed to hold their meeting biennially.

From October 17 to 21, 2022, the three committees for external relations held a consultation to discuss the organisation of a high-level meeting among the three NAs. Also last year, the three NA leaders signed a joint statement approving the upgrade of the committee-level meeting to the one at the NA chairperson level so that the three legislative bodies’ relations will match the cooperation mechanisms among the Parties and Governments of the CLV countries, and agreed that the Lao parliament will host the first, she noted.

The official said the coming high-level meeting is intended to promote the NAs’ role in supervising, encouraging, and stepping up the implementation of the cooperation agreements, programmes, and projects signed among the CLV Governments, along with the multilateral deals to which the three countries are parties. It will boost the sharing of information, experience, and lessons about activities and the roles of the NAs. The event will also discuss and integrate the targets of the CLV Development Triangle Area into socio-economic development plans of the countries and their localities through the state budget allocation and the mobilisation of investment from domestic sources and international development partners to the Development Triangle Area and others.

The meeting, which will focus on strengthening the parliaments’ role in promoting comprehensive cooperation among Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, will look into three cooperation fields, namely politics - diplomacy; economy, culture, and society; and defence -security, she continued.

Suggesting measures for enhancing cooperation to boost the countries’ economic integration to secure sustainable development, Xayachak held that the three NAs should work together to accelerate the implementation of the cooperation agreements, programmes, and projects signed among the CLV Governments, as well as the multilateral deals to which their countries are parties. They should press on with the partnerships in economic, trade, investment, health care, education, culture, tourism, and other potential fields; develop fundamental infrastructure; and properly build and perfect relevant legal regulations to facilitate trading activities and people-to-people exchanges to reinforce solidarity and mutual support among the three peoples.

The parliaments need to keep strengthening defence - security cooperation to guarantee borders of peace, friendship, and sustainable development cooperation. They should also continue encouraging the legislators of the provinces located in the Development Triangle Area to share opinions and monitor and report outstanding and urgent problems to the three countries’ NAs and Governments.

The official pointed out the need to establish NA friendship committees at the local level in the CLV Development Triangle Area and rotationally host annual meetings to review the implementation of cooperation agreements in the area. Besides, it is also necessary to step up mutual visits by leaders of governmental and legislative agencies to turn the Development Triangle Area into an area of peace, friendship, and sustainable development cooperation./.

VNA