Laos, Republic of Korea enhance ties

Описание: The Republic of Korea has agreed on the framework for the provision of continued assistance for socio-economic development in Laos.
The agreement was reached yesterday during the visit of a high-ranking delegation from the Republic of Korea (ROK), led by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn at the invitation of Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong.

The cooperation framework signed during the visit included a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the ROK's Official Development Assistance projects to Laos for 2016, and the soft loan project from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) for the period from 2016 to 2019.

The visit of Prime Minister Hwang is taking place as the two nations celebrate this year's 20th anniversary (October 25, 1995) of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

At the bilateral meeting in Vientiane led by the two prime ministers, the two sides reviewed the implementation of their relations and cooperation over the past years.

They highly valued the friendship ties and cooperation, which have persistently strengthened through an exchange of visits of high level leaders, especially the official visit of President Choummaly Sayasone to the Republic of Korea in 2013, which was seen as a milestone in upgrading cooperation ties between the two countries.

The two sides were pleased that their relations have been promoted and grown in the past 20 years, and highly valued the cooperation in economics, trade, investment and tourism, which has seen dynamic development, according to a press relea se from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Currently, the Republic of Korea is the sixth ranked country investing in Laos, with some 257 projects that have a combined investment value of US$800 million. Trade volumes between the two countries reached US$199 million this year, with Lao exports to Korea valued at US$12 million and imports from the republic at US$187 million.

More than 292,000 ROK citizens have visited Laos in the past seven years, 96,000 of whom visited Laos last year. The number is over 86,000 for the first half of this year, a 72 percent increase from the same period in 2014.

The Republic of Korea is amongst the top countries providing ODA to Laos, with its assistance having increased every year. US$10 million to US$12 million is the average amount of assistance ROK granted to Laos annually.

Aside from the grant assistance, the government of the Republic of Korea has also provided a low-interest loan policy to help promote socio-economic development in Laos.

Prime Minister Thongsing, representing the Lao government and people, expressed his gratitude to the government and people of the Republic of Korea for the effective assistance in socio-economic infrastructure development. At the meeting, the two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

During the visit, Prime Minister Hwang and his delegation paid courtesy visits to President Choummaly Sayasone and National Assembly President Ms Pany Yathotou, and attended a seminar on the integration of the Korean community-based development project Saemual Undong with the Lao Sam Sang (Three Builds) directive.

Today, the delegation will visit the Children's Hospital's in Vientiane, which is funded by the Korean government.



By Times Reporters
(Latest Update December 15, 2015)