Lao Party General Secretary Choummaly Sayasone has voiced his strong support for measures the two governments will take to raise bilateral trade to US$1 billion this year and US$2 billion in 2015. Comprehensive cooperation in various areas, including trade, will help strengthen Laos-Vietnam relations sustainably and substantially, Sayasone told Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Vientiane on August 14. Deputy PM Phuc has been in Laos for the mid-term meeting of Vietnam-Laos sub-committees for cooperation. Sayasone, who is also Lao State President, welcomed the results of the meeting and said both sides have carried out practical activities and key projects during the Vietnam-Laos Friendship Year 2012 to bring their relationship to new heights. Phuc, who is head of the Vietnam-Laos sub-committee for cooperation, briefed his host on measures the two governments have agreed to boost bilateral cooperation in economics, trade, investment, education, culture and human resources development. The two sides also agreed to strengthen exchanges between ministries, departments and localities. The Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy PM Phuc also met with Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong on the same day. *** President of the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) Central Committee Phanduongchit Vongsa presented Laos’ Itsala Orders to organizations and individuals of the Vietnamese Government Committee for Religious Affairs (GCRA). The LFNC also conferred insignias on 20 GCRA officials on the occasion. Speaking at the ceremony in Hanoi on August 14, the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs and Head of the GCRA, Pham Dung, said the GCRA attaches great importance to strengthening ties with the LFNC, and their cooperation has fostered traditional ties of friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties and nations. VOV