Vietnamese president arrives in Vientiane this weekend

Vietnam’s top leader will arrive in Vientiane this weekend for a goodwill visit as Laos and Vietnam further strengthen their special relationship.
The Committee for External Relations of the Central Committee of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party announced this week that the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, will be in Laos on February 24-25.
The visit by the Vietnamese president is in response to an invitation from his Lao counterpart, President Bounnhang Vorachit.
Nguyen Phu Trong was born on April 14, 1944. He joined the Party on December 19, 1967.  He holds an academic degree as professor and PhD in politics. He also completed a study of high-level political theory.
He began his career as an officer at a Party magazine known as the Communist Review in 1967. He was appointed editor-in-chief in 1991 and held the position until 1996.
From 1996 to 1998, he served as the Deputy Party Secretary General of the Hanoi Party Committee. In 1998, he was appointed member of the Political Bureau with Portfolio of the Party Central Committee’s ideological-cultural and scientific-educational affairs. He held this position until 2000.
In 2000, he was named as the Hanoi Party Committee Secretary General and held this position until 2006. In 2006, he was elected as the President of the Vietnamese National Assembly and held this position until 2011. In the same year, he was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
At present, he holds the top position as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The meeting of the Lao and Vietnamese leaders in Vientiane on Sunday and Monday is expected to play a key role in strengthening the special relationship between the two nations, built and inherited from the decades-long fight against foreign aggressors during the colonial era.
Laos and Vietnam established diplomatic relations on September 5, 1962, and signed the Friendship and Cooperation Treaty on July 18, 1977, which cemented their special relationship.
In 2017, the two nations celebrated the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Laos-Vietnam Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, when their top leaders attended celebrations to mark the anniversary. At present, Vietnam is among the top three trading partners and foreign investors in Laos.
In 2018, the value of trade between Laos and Vietnam climbed to US$1 billion, while accumulated investment by Vietnam in Laos reached about US$4.1 billion.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update February 22, 2019)