(VNA) – The Defense Ministries of Vietnam and Laos signed a cooperation plan for 2013 in Hanoi on Sunday. The document was inked by Minister of Defense General Phung Quang Thanh and his Laotian counterpart, Senior lieutenant-general Douangchay Phichit, who is also Deputy Prime Minister of Laos. At the signing ceremony, Thanh said the plan will allow for the consolidation of the traditional friendship and solidarity between the two nations and their armies. Douangchay Phichit said he highly appreciates the hard work undertaken by the two ministries of defense last year, and expressed his belief that the continued cooperation will reap great rewards in the coming years.