Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong (R) meets with Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulit (Photo: VNA)

Leaders of the two countries said they will continue to work closely with and support each other in the cause of national defence and development of each country, both in a bilateral framework and at regional and international forums. They once again underlined the importance of close cooperation in national defence-security, and agreed to give each other firm support to counter increasingly diverse and complicated security-defence challenges. They agreed to coordinate their implementation of treaties and bilateral agreements on border and territory, continue their economic, cultural, and technological cooperation, and support investment projects in Laos and Vietnam. 

They agreed to cooperate in the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam development triangle, the Action Plan for Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Economic Connectivity through 2030, and in education, training, and human resource development. The two sides agreed to share information in a timely manner and closely coordinate with each other and with other countries and international organisations in management and sustainable use of the water resources of the Mekong River. They agreed to continue coordination and mutual support within regional and international mechanisms, and finalize the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by year-end. 

Vietnam and Laos affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, the rule of law, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, and of settling disputes in the East Sea by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They reiterated ASEAN’s principled stance on the East Sea which was expressed in recent statements of ASEAN, especially the Joint Communiqué of the 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Bangkok in July, 2019.