Vietnamese Ministry of Justice delegation on working visit to Laos

A delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice led by Minister Le Thanh Long was received by General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachith and National Assembly Chairwoman Pany Yathotou on December 6.

Minister Le Thanh Long (L) was welcomed by General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachith (Photo: VNA)
Minister Le Thanh Long (L) was welcomed by General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of Laos Bounnhang Vorachith (Photo: VNA)

At the meeting with the top Lao leader, Minister Long said that over the past five years, authorized agencies of Vietnam and Laos have worked hard together to implement an agreement signed between the two governments on the settlement of issues related to free migration and undocumented marriage in border areas.

By November 14, 2019 when the deal expired, 1,452 out of 1,711 applications for Vietnamese nationality were approved, and the rest are being considered, he noted.

Minister Long said that the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice has always actively supported Laos in building and completing its legal system.

Over the years, Vietnamese law training facilities, including the Hanoi Law University, have trained a large number of Lao students at different levels. Currently, the Hanoi Law University is hosting 86 students from Laos, 79 of whom have been granted with the Vietnamese Government’s scholarships.

Along with creating optimal conditions for the facilities to promote cooperation with Laos in personnel training, the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice has also coordinated with its Lao counterpart to realize a project to support the Lao Academy of Justice using the Vietnamese Government’s assistance, which was approved in 2017.

General Secretary and President Bounnhang Vorachith expressed his delight at the fruitful cooperation between the two Ministries of Justice over the past 37 years, with Vietnam’s support to Laos in law-building and human resources training.

He suggested that the two ministries continue promoting the ties and experience sharing, focusing on dealing with issues related to free migration and undocumented marriage along the shared border, thus completing all work as scheduled.

For her part, NA Chairwoman Pany Yathotou lauded the two ministries’ efforts to complete all tasks set earlier.

She showed her hope that in the future, Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice will continue helping its Lao counterpart in law-building and human resources training as well as sharing experience in handling cases.

Earlier the same day, Minister Long held talks with his Lao counterpart Xaysi Santyvong, during which both sides expressed their pleasure at the efficiency of the cooperation programme for 2019 as well as collaboration contents reached during the Lao minister’s visit to Vietnam in December 2018.

They discussed measures to enhance the effectiveness of their cooperation agreement for the 2015-2020 period, while drafting the affiliation programme for 2020.

The two sides also sought orientations for future activities to realize the project of supporting the Lao Academy of Justice funded by the Vietnamese Government.