At the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung is leading a high-level Vietnamese delegation on official visits to Laos and Cambodia from October 8 to 10.

This marked Prime Minister Le Minh Hung’s first official visit to Laos and Cambodia, affirming the high priority the Party, State, and Government of Viet Nam place on these two neighbouring countries. The visit contributed to further deepening the great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic partnership between Viet Nam and Laos, as well as the good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, and comprehensive, long-term sustainable cooperation between Viet Nam and Cambodia.

The great friendship and special solidarity between Viet Nam and Laos—painstakingly cultivated by generations of leaders and people from both nations—have become a model relationship characterised by sincerity and purity, a rarity in international relations. This relationship has been strengthened and developed, becoming increasingly solid and deeply strategically linked. Built upon a foundation of firm political ties and high mutual trust, the two sides exchanged over 100 delegations in 2026, including 13 high-level delegations. Notably, for the first time, the Prime Minister and the President of the National Assembly accompanied General Secretary To Lam on his state visit to Laos (February 2026). Viet Nam and Laos focused on concretising the substance of their strategic partnership across various sectors and closely coordinated to effectively implement the outcomes of the 2026 high-level meeting between the two Political Bureaus, the meeting of the three Party leaders, the 48th session of the Viet Nam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee, and high-level visits between the two nations. Joint statements, high-level agreements, and cooperation plans between the two governments were implemented rigorously, with a focus on key priorities.

Built upon a foundation of exceptional political trust, the two countries not only support and share with one another on their paths of development but also progressively foster complementarity and increasingly substantive, intertwined interests. Economic, trade, and investment cooperation has become a vital pillar, prioritised and promoted to strengthen strategic linkages; emphasis is placed on connecting transport, energy, telecommunications, and logistics infrastructure, as well as integrating the two economies, thereby creating development momentum for each nation. Economic cooperation is witnessing positive transformations. In 2025, two-way trade turnover reached approximately 3 billion USD, a 32% increase compared to 2024. Viet Nam remains a major foreign investor in Laos, with around 300 projects and a total registered capital of approximately 7.04 billion USD. Both sides are seeking to better leverage their potential, particularly in the areas of infrastructure connectivity, energy, trade, and investment. Cooperation in education and training, human resource development, science and technology, and culture continues to be actively promoted. Localities—especially border provinces—regularly maintain exchange activities, thereby strengthening mutual understanding and bonds between the peoples of the two countries.

This is the first official visit to Laos by Le Minh Hung in his capacity as Prime Minister of Viet Nam as well as his first bilateral overseas visit. Prime Minister Le Minh Hung is also among the first high-ranking foreign guests to be received by Prime Minister Saleumxay Kommasith and National Assembly President Sonexay Siphandone in their new capacities. Therefore, the visit holds particularly important significance, demonstrating the proactive and active role of the head of the Government and clearly conveying the messages on Viet Nam's foreign policy priorities and key focuses during the new term.

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung's official visit to Laos takes place as the two Parties and the two countries are actively implementing the Resolution of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the Resolution of the 12th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, putting their respective development goals for the new period into practice. Notably, Laos has just completed the election of the president of the 10th National Assembly and the new Prime Minister during the second session of the 10th National Assembly, while Viet Nam is holding the 14th Party Central Committee Conference and preparing for the 16th National Assembly's session. This timing is of great significance for continuing the shared determination and elevating the two countries' relations to a new, higher level of development. It is also a time when the world and regional situation continues to evolve rapidly and complexly, requiring the two countries to coordinate more closely, enhance their self-reliance and resilience, and support each other in development.

The visit also reflects the special importance that the leaders of the two countries attach to each other and reaffirms that Viet Nam and Laos always give top priority to maintaining and developing their great friendship, special solidarity, comprehensive cooperation, and strategic cohesion. The visit is important for continuing to concretise and turn the concept of “strategic cohesion” into an overarching orientation in Viet Nam-Laos relations, with continued efforts to strengthen political bonds and trust, and closely coordinate on strategic issues related to each country's development, economic interests, defence and security, infrastructure connectivity, energy, and human resources. It is an occasion for the two Prime Ministers to discuss measures to accelerate the implementation of commitments, agreements and signed documents, as well as the outcomes of high-level visits; reach agreement on issues that need to be addressed and difficulties and obstacles to be resolved; and set out major orientations and measures to improve effectiveness and create new momentum for Viet Nam-Laos cooperation. They will also identify cooperation priorities capable of bringing about clear breakthroughs in connectivity between the two economies.

On the multilateral area, amid a volatile international environment, the maintenance of strategic exchanges, close coordination, and support between Viet Nam and Laos has a direct bearing on the interests, security, and development environment of each country.

This is an opportunity for both Prime Ministers to share visions and orientations on regional and international issues of mutual concern, as well as to enhance coordination at ASEAN, the United Nations, and other multilateral mechanisms.  

The official visit to Cambodia is part of the first foreign bilateral tour by Le Minh Hung in his capacity as Prime Minister, clearly demonstrating Viet Nam's utmost respect and highest priority for consolidating and ceaselessly deepening relations with Cambodia. Against the backdrop of complex and unpredictable developments in the international and regional situations, the visit affirms Viet Nam's determination, alongside Cambodia, to cultivate an environment of peace, friendship, cooperation, and mutual development in the region, as well as to promote all aspects of cooperation between the two countries.

The solidarity between the Parties and the peoples of Viet Nam and Cambodia is a valuable asset that must be nurtured, preserved and developed. Political and diplomatic relations continue to play a central role in shaping the overall direction of bilateral ties. The two sides maintain regular contacts and exchanges of high-level and other delegations, while coordinating the implementation of bilateral cooperation mechanisms across all channels. Political trust has continued to strengthen. Since the beginning of this year, the two countries have exchanged high-level delegations, agreed on a number of important orientations and reached strategically significant understandings. These include Party General Secretary To Lam’s state visit to Cambodia and his attendance at the high-level meeting between the two Parties and the three Parties in February 2026; Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet’s official visit to Viet Nam, during which he attended and delivered a speech at the third ASEAN Future Forum in June 2026; and the official visit to Viet Nam by National Assembly President Samdech Khuon Sudary in July 2026.

The relationship between Viet Nam and Cambodia, founded on good-neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and long-term sustainability, is growing increasingly substantive and in-depth. Defence and security cooperation continues to serve as a pillar of bilateral ties. The two sides work closely together to effectively carry out tasks aimed at maintaining political stability and ensuring national defence, security and social order and safety in each country. Trade, investment and tourism cooperation is providing fresh impetus for growth, with bilateral trade recording strong expansion. In the first eight months of 2026 alone, two-way trade reached nearly 8.7 billion USD, up 8.3% year on year. Cooperation in education, culture, social affairs and people-to-people exchanges is also expanding in scope and depth. Viet Nam currently has 223 investment projects in Cambodia, with total registered capital of nearly 3.4 billionUSD, making Cambodia the second-largest destination for Vietnamese overseas investment. Cooperation in education and culture, along with people-to-people exchanges, continues to be stepped up through a wide range of exchanges involving localities, organisations and people from both countries, particularly younger generations.

Meanwhile, rapid advances in global science and technology are prompting Viet Nam and Cambodia to increase investment in research to keep pace with contemporary development trends, while opening up new opportunities to strengthen ties between the two countries. The resolutions and documents of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam place science and technology, innovation and digital transformation at the heart of the country’s economic growth model. The Cambodian Government likewise regards science and technology and innovation as important drivers of national development, identifying them as one of the key priorities of its Pentagonal Strategy Phase I. These developments have created, and will continue to create, natural opportunities for the two countries to forge closer links in this field, helping to build a comprehensive ecosystem of bilateral connectivity.

The official visits to Laos and Cambodia by Prime Minister Le Minh Hung represent a concrete step towards implementing the foreign policy adopted at the 14th National Party Congress and the Politburo’s strategic resolutions, which attach high priority to relations with the two neighbouring countries. The visits reaffirm Viet Nam’s consistent policy of attaching great importance to, and continuously strengthening and developing, friendship and cooperation with Laos and Cambodia. They also provide an opportunity for the Vietnamese Prime Minister and the leaders of Laos and Cambodia to discuss measures to translate commitments and agreements into tangible outcomes, generating fresh momentum for cooperation across a wide range of fields.

It is hoped that, during these visits, the Vietnamese Government will reach agreement with the Governments of Laos and Cambodia on concrete measures to more effectively implement high-level agreements and commitments, particularly in areas requiring significant progress and breakthroughs. Another expectation is to generate fresh momentum for economic, trade and investment cooperation, as well as both physical and institutional connectivity, thereby bringing about stronger progress in economic cooperation with the two neighbouring countries.