Prime Minister asks Laos to pay attention to hydropower issues on the Mekong River

On the afternoon of July 17, at the Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung had talks with Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Thongsing Thammavong, who is on an internal working visit to Vietnam.

Warmly welcoming and highly appreciating the internal working visit to Vietnam by Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung emphasized that the visit is of great significance taking place on the occasion of the two countries celebrating major anniversaries and conducting Party Congresses at all levels; at the same time, he expressed his joy at the good development, increasingly deepening and substantive development of the Vietnam-Laos cooperation relationship.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung holds talks with Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong. (Photo: Duc Tam/VNA)

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung affirmed that Vietnam's consistent policy is to always attach importance to and will make every effort to, together with Lao comrades, continue to deepen the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos into a more practical and effective manner.

Thanking Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for his invitation to visit Vietnam and the warm and respectful welcome from the local authorities and people, Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong highly appreciated Vietnam's achievements in socio-economic development, poverty reduction, and improvement of people's lives; affirming that Vietnam's achievements are also important lessons for Laos in national construction and development.

Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong affirmed that Laos will do its utmost to effectively implement the agreements reached by the two countries' high-ranking leaders; continuously foster and strengthen the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Laos and Vietnam; and promote substantive cooperation in all fields commensurate with the good political relations between the two countries.

In this spirit, the two Prime Ministers discussed and agreed on major directions and specific measures to strengthen and promote cooperation in various fields between the two countries in the coming time.

Accordingly, the two sides will focus on coordination, continue to effectively implement the agreements reached at the Annual Meeting between the two Politburoes in 2015, at the 37th Session of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee on Bilateral Cooperation in January 2015; organize high-level visits and contacts in various forms; coordinate to well organize the celebrations of the two countries' important holidays in 2015 and exchange information, share experiences in organizing the National Congress of the Party.

Regarding economic, trade and investment cooperation, the two Prime Ministers agreed that the two sides should closely coordinate to effectively implement the new Trade Agreement and the Vietnam-Laos Border Trade Agreement; promote trade exchange in the last 6 months of 2015, striving to achieve the target of 2 billion USD in 2015.

In the fields of security, defense, and border, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung suggested that the two sides closely coordinate to promptly prevent terrorist and sabotage plots; strengthen cooperation and exchange of experiences; mobilize people to participate in border management; continue to closely coordinate in economic development, improve the lives of people in border provinces, build a border of peace, friendship, stability, cooperation and development; coordinate in the fight against drug trafficking; search for and collect the remains of martyrs of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts.

Regarding transport cooperation, the two Prime Ministers agreed to coordinate in mobilizing funding to soon deploy a number of transport routes connecting the two countries; effectively implement the "one-stop, one-stop" inspection model at the Lao Bao-Densavan international border gate pair, summarize and consider applying it at other border gate pairs, and promote energy connectivity between the two countries.

In addition, the two sides also agreed to effectively implement the Bilateral Cooperation Project on Education and Human Resources Development for the 2011-2020 period. Promote cooperation in the fields of agriculture and rural development. Enhance exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, sports, information and communication, science and technology, and tourism. Strengthen education on the tradition of special friendship between Vietnam and Laos, especially for the younger generations.

Regarding regional and international issues, the two Prime Ministers emphasized that the world and regional situation is evolving in a complex and unpredictable manner; maintaining peace, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, where global shipping routes pass through, is the common interest and responsibility of all countries in the region and the world.

The two sides agreed to strengthen solidarity and close coordination at ASEAN, regional and international forums in promoting the peaceful settlement of disputes in the East Sea in accordance with international law and regional agreements. Vietnam affirmed that it will make the greatest effort to support Laos in successfully assuming the role of ASEAN Chair in 2016.

Regarding the issue of hydropower on the Mekong mainstream, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung emphasized that Vietnam strongly supports the exploitation of hydropower for the socio-economic development of Laos. However, Vietnam is the country at the end of the Mekong River's source, and the lives of 20 million people in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam depend greatly on the Mekong's water resources. Therefore, the leaders of the Party, State and people of Vietnam pay special attention to this vital issue; at the same time, they hope that Lao friends will share and understand Vietnam's concerns and worries.

On this issue, Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong expressed his agreement with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's opinion and emphasized that the two sides need to continue discussions and listen to the results of the Joint Study on the impacts of hydropower projects on the Mekong River mainstream, scheduled to be announced in December 2015.

"If the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong mainstream really has a big impact on the environment and people's lives, we definitely should not do it," said Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong./.

According to VNA