Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea Chung Eui-yong arrived in Vientiane today for a two-day visit to the Lao PDR to enhance the relations and cooperation between Laos and the Republic of Korea.
On the first day of his visit, the Korean foreign minister met with his Lao counterpart Saleumxay Kommasith where the host highly valued the Korean minister’s visit noting that the visit constituted a significant contribution to strengthening the relations and cooperation between the two countries.
The host also congratulated the Korean minister on his appointment to the post in February this year.
Both side highly valued the cooperation between the two countries noting that the two countries have exchanged visits and congratulation messages of their leaders.
The relations and cooperation have been strengthened constantly in various areas and at various levels, from the central to local levels, especially in trade, investment, tourism, human resource development, health and infrastructure, technology and education, among others.
The Republic of Korea ranks 5th largest foreign investor in the Lao PDR covering 299 projects, worth 790 million US dollars. The bilateral trade between the two countries reached 113 million in 2019 including 59 million US dollars of exports to Korea and 54 million US dollars of imports from the country.
The ministers commended achievements in organizing activities to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 2020 though the Covid-19 pandemic has limited visit exchange between the two countries.
Both sides agreed to continue to promote regular visit exchange of senior officials of the two countries in the future, especially preparations for the official visit to the Republic of Korea of Prime Minister of Laos and continue to urge relevant authorities to implement the documents the two countries signed in 2019, especially on cooperation on ICT, industry and commerce, agriculture and economic development, intellectual property right, and profession.
Minister Saleumxay expressed on behalf of the government and people of Laos sincere gratitude to the government and people of Korea for providing priceless assistance through bilateral and multilateral frameworks to the Lao PDR over the past years.
Korea, a key ODA provider of the Lao PDR, provided a US$ 3.5 million assistance for Covid-19 prevention and control in the Lao PDR.
The Korean minister reaffirmed the commitment of the government of the Republic of Korea to materializing New Southern Policy which attaches greater importance to the relations and cooperation with the Lao PDR and other ASEAN member states in order to promote the cooperation on trade and investment.
Source: Lao News Agency