On December 2, in Vientiane, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s working delegation, visited and held a working session with the Vietnam Trade Office in Laos.

The meeting took place as part of the Minister’s mission accompanying Party General Secretary To Lam and his spouse on a State visit to Laos, where the delegation attended the celebration marking the 50th National Day of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and co-chaired the high-level meeting between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party.

During the working session, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien underscored the consistent views of the Party, State, Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of both countries on strengthening bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

He noted that in recent years, the Ministries of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and Laos have advanced numerous substantive cooperation initiatives, capitalizing on the two countries’ shared border of more than 2,300km that runs across multiple provinces and possesses significant development potential and strategic importance along the East-West Economic Corridor.

In 2024, the bilateral trade reached USD 2.25 billion, up 38 percent from 2023. This marked a significant milestone, as it was the first time two-way trade surpassed USD 2 billion, setting a record high of USD 2.25 billion.

In the first ten months of 2025, Vietnam-Laos trade continued to gain momentum, approaching USD 2.5 billion, an increase of 50.4 percent compared to the same period in 2024. Vietnam has thus become Laos’ third-largest trading partner, with the bilateral trade moving toward the target of USD 5 billion and with the ambition of reaching USD 10 billion in the coming years.

The Minister instructed the Vietnam Trade Office in Laos to remain proactive in grasping developments on the ground, and to propose effective measures that translate the directives of senior leaders and the two Ministers of Industry and Trade into concrete results. He emphasized that the Trade Office must swiftly innovate and enhance its operational efficiency; strengthen coordination with relevant units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade; and improve trade promotion and business connectivity efforts to elevate bilateral cooperation and create breakthroughs in Vietnam-Laos trade.

Assigning key tasks for the period ahead, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien requested the Trade Office to work closely with units within the Ministry of Industry and Trade to formulate action plans, concretize and effectively implement agreements, memoranda and cooperation frameworks signed between the two countries’ industry and trade sectors, particularly the Memorandum of Understanding on the development of industrial linkage chains signed on December 1.

During the session, the Minister also directed the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency and the Industry and Trade Newspaper to study and propose operational plans, including dispatching staff to Laos and other priority markets.

Acknowledging the Minister’s guidance, Tran Thi Tu Anh, Trade Counsellor and head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Laos, affirmed that the office will remain united and committed to fulfilling its tasks, with the highest goal of further increasing bilateral import - export turnover.