Belarus-Laos relations based on similar approaches in foreign and domestic policy

Relations between Belarus and Laos are based on the similarity of approaches in foreign and domestic policy, Chairman of the Standing Commission on International Affairs and National Security of the Council of the Republic Sergey Aleynik told reporters after a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Thongsavan Fomvihan.

Belarus and Laos have long-standing friendly relations. The history of diplomatic relations dates back 32 years, but relations go much deeper into history, Sergey Aleynik noted, stressing that they are based on mutual respect, trust and friendship.

“We are promoting the idea of a multipolar world based on sovereign equality of states, non-interference in internal affairs and consideration of everyone’s interests both in security and development issues,” he said. In domestic politics, we also have a lot of similarities: we and Laos are promoting a socially oriented policy that focuses on people, improving the quality of life of people.

There is a very high level of political relations between the countries, the Chairman of the Standing Committee stated. Today, according to him, the task is to raise other areas of cooperation to the same high level. We are talking primarily about the economy, trade and economic cooperation. We are talking about new possible growth points in terms of cooperation and cooperation in the field of industry.

Agriculture is a priority for Laos. Belarus has something to offer this country: from fertilizers to agricultural machinery, technologies and competencies in this area, said Sergey Aleynik.

According to him, there is great interest in the development of cooperation in the social sphere, in particular in the field of education. “Especially in this area, we have a very good history. During the Soviet Union, a large number of students from Laos studied in the universities of our country, who today continue to work in the government, in the parliament, and in other institutions and public organizations of this country. Here we have serious points for growth and interaction, the parliamentarian said, pointing to the prospects for cooperation in the health sector.

Attention was drawn to the importance of interregional youth cooperation through women's organizations.

Special attention is paid to strengthening the inter-parliamentary dialogue based on the agreement between the National Assembly of Laos and the National Assembly of Belarus. “We have created an inter-parliamentary friendship group, which is also quite active,” the parliamentarian said. And, of course, we agreed to strengthen the synergy of the efforts of the government and parliament to promote the bilateral agenda in the field of political dialogue, trade and economic cooperation and interaction in the socio-humanitarian sphere.

In addition, the Council of the Republic discussed cooperation in the field of digitalization, where Belarus has serious competencies. It's interesting to Laos. The topic of tourism is equally relevant for the two countries, its promotion will largely be facilitated by the agreement on the abolition of visas. Last year, 1,400 Belarusians visited Laos. The participants of the meeting discussed how to increase the mutual tourist flow and thereby develop and promote people’s diplomacy.

The issues of development and expansion of the legal framework of relations were discussed. To date, 20 bilateral documents of interstate, intergovernmental and interdepartmental nature have been signed. We are working on more than 10 documents that cover a number of important areas. We are talking about the interaction of customs authorities, in the field of justice, health care. “And we, of course, will work together to accelerate the process of coordinating and preparing these documents for signing,” the parliamentarian concluded.