Aleksandr Lukashenko meets with head of Laotian parliament

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko would like to expand Belarus-Laos cooperation in trade and economy. The Belarusian head of state made this statement as he met with Chairwoman of the National Assembly of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Pany Yathotou on 23 April.

Aleksandr Lukashenko reminded that President of Laos Choummaly Sayasone visited Minsk in 2013, which was the first visit of this kind in the history of the bilateral relations. “This visit gave start to a brand new stage of the bilateral cooperation,” the Belarusian leader said.

Welcoming the head of the Laotian parliament, Aleksandr Lukashenko expressed hope that this visit will help ramp up the bilateral contacts.

According to the President, trade and economic ties are vital for bilateral contacts of all countries. They are the foundation and a benchmark to assess the scale and depth of interstate relations. “Let us be honest: we have nothing to boast about here. Our relations are still in the nascent stage. We are trying to lay some foundation for these relations,” the President noted.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “We are going to visit your country. I promised the Laotian President to come to your country. We would really like this visit to be packed with events and to result in concrete agreements and a number of contracts”.

The Belarusian leader expressed hope that MPs will play their part in promoting the bilateral relations. Belarus hopes its cooperation with Laos will be as vibrant and friendly as that with Vietnam.

Pany Yathotou noted that she came to Belarus upon the invitation of the Belarusian parliament to continue fleshing out and expanding the arrangements reached by the two presidents. She agreed with Aleksandr Lukashenko that trade and economic contacts should be intensified alongside with political contacts.

Pany Yathotou gave Aleksandr Lukashenko the best wishes from President of Laos Choummaly Sayasone.