Lao leaders and the visiting Vice President of Cuba’s Council of State have reaffirmed both sides will work together to deepen the traditionally friendly relations and cooperation between Laos and Cuba.
The Lao leaders told Mr Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, 53, that the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and the government will continue to nurture close bilateral relations and cooperation with Cuba.
Mr Bermudez, who is also First Vice President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba and a politburo member of the Communist Party of Cuba, arrived in Vientiane yesterday for a two-day official visit to Laos. His visit was made in response to an invitation from Lao Vice President and politburo member, Mr Bounnhang Vorachit.
Following an official welcoming ceremony on Saturday at the Presidential Office, Mr Bermudez and the Lao vice president held talks on bilateral ties. Mr Bermudez also paid a courtesy visit to President Choummaly Sayasone and called on Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong.
“At the talks, the Lao leaders reaffirmed the consistent guidelines of the Lao Party and government to enhance the traditional friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries,” a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Lao leaders expressed their heartfelt thanks to the government, people and Communist Party of Cuba (CPC), for the valuable support and assistance they extended to the struggle for liberation in Laos and the current effort for national development and defence.
For his part, Mr Bermudez reaffirmed the guidelines of the government and Communist Party of Cuba to continue deepening the traditional friendly relations and cooperation between the two parties, governments and peoples.
He pledged that Cuba will continue to assist Laos in relation to human resource development and provide assistance in the health and sports sectors, according to the press release.
At the talks, both sides informed each other about the socio-economic situations in their respective countries, reviewed past collaboration and discussed future cooperation in addition to exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
On this occasion, Mr Bermudez conveyed the invitation from the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba’s Central Committee, Mr Raúl Castro to President Choummaly, who is also Secretary General of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, to pay an official visit to Cuba at some point in the future.
Mr Castro is also President of the Council of State and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba.
The Lao Foreign Ministry described the official visit of Mr Bermudez to Laos as ‘one of the important events in Laos-Cuba relations,’ developing the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries and peoples to ‘a new height’ for the mutual benefit of both parties.
The Cuban delegation also toured various cultural attractions in Vientiane and met with local diplomatic staff before departing Laos for Cuba yesterday.
Source: Vientiane Times
June 24, 2013
