Thailand
Laos, Malaysia strengthen ties
Prime Minister ThonglounSisoulith and his delegation are officially visiting Malaysia from May 9-10 at the invitation of Prime Minister Dato’ Sri NajibTun Abdul Razak.
This is MrThongloun’s first visit to Malaysia since taking the top government post a year ago. His visit aims to strengthen the long-standing friendship and good cooperation between the two countries.
A bilateral meeting took place yesterday morning after an official greeting ceremony at the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office in Kuala Lumpur.
The two sides said they highly valued the friendship and cooperation between their two countries, which they said had continued to grow and expand. This was evidenced by the regular exchanges of visits between high-level officials.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at yesterday’s meeting the two sides discussed cooperation in politics, national defence and public security, trade and investment, finance and banking, transportation, tourism, health, science and technology, education and human resource development.
They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The Lao side thanked the Malaysian government for financial assistance of US$65 million for the development and improvement of power transmission lines in Vientiane and the northern provinces, and the human resource development project in Laos through the Malaysia Technical Cooperation Programme.
Since 1991, more than 1,400 Lao nationals have received scholarships under the project. The Malaysian government sent 50 doctors and medical staff to provide free health checks in Phonsavanh village, Sangthong district, Vientiane, in 2015 and last year. Malaysia’s support also helped Laos to successfully chair Asean last year.
Malaysia has also supported Laos’ membership of various international organisations, especially within the United Nations.
After the meeting, Prime Minister Thongloun and Prime Minister NajibRazak witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on science, technology and innovation cooperation between the Ministry of Science and Technology of Laos and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia.
In the afternoon, Prime Minister Thongloun and his delegation paid a courtesy visit to the 15th Yang di-PertuanAgong, Sultan Muhammad 5 at the Istana Negara.
MrThongloun also attended a Lao-Malaysian business meeting co-organised by the Ministry of Industry and International Trade of Malaysia and the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The meeting introduced the two countries’ investment policies, along with the business and investment opportunities in each country, and enabled officials and businesspeople from Laos and Malaysia to share ideas on promoting trade and investment between the two countries.
Laos and Malaysia last year opened a National DefenceCounsellor Office in each other’s country.
The trade volume between the two countries reached US$30.9 million last year, a 75 percent increase on the previous year. Malaysia’s current investments in Laos total about US$1 billion, covering 100 projects. This has pushed Malaysia up to fourth place among the countries investing in Laos.
The two countries also started direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and LuangPrabang last year, with four flights a week. There were previously three flights a week between Vientiane and Kuala Lumpur.
Source: http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/FreeContent/FreeConten_LaosMalaysia.html