On the morning of September 13, 2022, in Hanoi, the General Statistics Office (GSO) had a courtesy meeting with a senior officials delegation from the Lao Statistical Bureau. General Director of GSO Nguyen Thi Huong chaired the reception. Attending the meeting were representatives of the heads of some Departments under the General Statistics Office. The senior delegation of the Lao Statistical Bureau (LSB) included: Ms. Phonesaly Souksavath – Deputy Minister and Director General of LSB, Mr. Phousavanh Chanthasombath – Deputy Chief of Office, Ms. Thiphavanh Lattanananta – Head of Secretariat and Cooperation Department.
The close relationship between Vietnam and Laos has been formed and developed in the history of thousands of years of national construction and defense. In particular, over the past six decades, the good traditional relationship and the faithful attachment between the two peoples of Vietnam and Laos have always been nurtured and developed by generations of leaders and people of the two countries. Within the framework of the cooperation program between the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam and the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Laos in 2022, the plan to implement activities to celebrate the “Year of solidarity and friendship between Vietnam and Laos 2022”, the GSO very pleased to welcome a delegation of senior officials from the Lao Statistical Bureau to visit and work with the GSO and attend the closing ceremony of the short-term training course on statistics for 20 officials and civil servants of the Lao Statistical Bureau from 11-15 September 2022.
At the meeting, Director General Nguyen Thi Huong expressed that on the basis of the traditional cooperation relationship between the two Governments, cooperation in the field of statistics between the Vietnam General Statistics Office and the Lao Statistical Bureau was approved by all levels of government, GSO’s leadership focuses and gives top priority. The two agencies have had cooperation activities in the field of statistics in various forms such as exchange of delegations, human resource training, and technical assistance. Specifically, from 2004 until now, GSO has supported capacity building for the Lao Statistical Bureau in the form of training in statistics skills in Vietnam for many leaders and civil servants of the Lao Statistical Bureau. As of 2022, GSO has organized 8 training courses for 185 Lao leaders and civil servants. In addition, the two agencies also organized many survey trips, and learning experiences in statistics work to share valuable professional experiences and learn more about the culture and people of the two countries. In 2022, thanks to the implementation of training activities for officials and employees of the Lao Statistical Bureau in Vietnam, the ASEAN Community Statistical System (ACSS) has successfully implemented the initiative “ASEAN helps ASEAN”. 2022. The statistical branches of the two countries have also made certain contributions to the good implementation of the ACSS Operational Plan.
On this mission of the Lao Statistical Bureau delegation, on behalf of colleagues from Vietnam’s Statistics sector, the Director General would like to thank Ms. Phonesaly SOUKSAVATH for the close affection and support from the Lao Statistical Bureau colleagues delegation for the GSO, especially during the nearly three difficult years of the pandemic. Director General Nguyen Thi Huong believes that the traditional cooperation relationship between the two agencies will develop more and more in the coming time.
Ms. Phonesaly Souksavath – Deputy Minister and Director General of the Lao Statistical Bureau expressed her thanks for the warm welcome of GSO colleagues. Ms. Phonesaly emphasized that 2022 is a particular year to celebrate the friendship between Vietnam and Laos and to exchange statistical activities between the two agencies, especially appreciating the GSO’s support for the Lao Statistical Office. Ms. Phonesaly also expressed that in the coming time, the Lao Statistical Bureau will continue to receive support from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.