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President Thongloun Sisoulith (right) and His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg preside over the signing ceremony.

Laos, Luxembourg extend partnership in healthcare, skill development

The governments of Laos and Luxembourg signed four cooperation agreements on Monday during a working visit to Laos by His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg.
Grand Duke Henri is visiting Laos from December 5-9 in response to an invitation from President Thongloun Sisoulith, to strengthen and enhance the splendid tradition of strong cooperative relations between Laos and Luxembourg, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release.
The agreements were signed in Vientiane, witnessed by President of Laos, Mr Thongloun Sisoulith, and His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri.
The agreements will lead to more reciprocal visits by high-level government delegations from Laos and Luxembourg and spur the implementation of programmes and agreements signed to by the two countries.
Future cooperation will include labour skill development by various sectors in Laos and Luxembourg to strengthen collaboration in infrastructure connectivity, tourism, and health, which will strengthen the foundations for driving economic growth.
The first agreement outlines cooperation between the two parties in a project to support their health sectors to extend their partnership in healthcare.
The second agreement relates to management and regulations within the framework of the provision of legal services and politics.
The third agreement concerns the promotion of skill development and employment to improve working standards in the tourism industry.
The fourth agreement will create conditions for improved local development in target provinces.
The two countries will continue to promote cooperation in healthcare, rural development, education, human resource development, tourism and hotel services, finance and banking, public sector infrastructure development, statistics, and other fields.
The two sides also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest.
His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri expressed gratitude for the warm welcome given to him and thanked the Lao government for supporting previous multilateral frameworks and showing commitment to support continued assistance to Laos for national and human resource development.
President Thongloun said Luxembourg is an important partner in Laos’ development and that cooperation between the two countries has taken good, progressive and solid steps.
He thanked the government and people of Luxembourg for their invaluable assistance to Laos.
This has been highly effective and efficient, he said, and has made an important contribution to the government’s 9th five-year socio-economic development plan (2021-2025), especially through support for rural development and poverty alleviation.
These efforts are aimed at raising Laos out of Least Developed Country status in the near future and helping the country to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations for 2030. Luxembourg’s assistance to the development of Laos has almost doubled since the establishment of a bilateral cooperation strategy in 2003, the President said.
The total amount of aid provided is about 197 million Euros. Funding to be provided under the specific cooperation strategic plan V (the 5th Indicative Cooperation Programme) or ICP V for 2023-2027 is valued at up to 95 million Euros (total aid value since ICP I-V is about 292 million Euros), with a focus on support for the health sector, education, the rule of law, and local development,
This year saw the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Laos and the Kingdom of Luxembourg, which were established on September 25, 1997. The anniversary is seen as an important milestone in the history of cooperation between the two countries.
The governments of Laos and Luxembourg will continue their cooperation and set priorities and actions under the new Indicative Cooperation Programme for 2023-2027.


By Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
 (Latest Update December 6, 2022)

   

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