Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith has highly appreciated continued expansion of friendly cooperative relations between Laos and Japan, saying that he is "convinced that the bilateral strategic partnership will further deepen and expand in a concrete way."

Mr Thongloun visited Japan on May 26-27 for an outreach session of the Group of Seven summit that ended Friday in Mie Prefecture as chair of the 10-member ASEAN.

While meeting with his Lao counterpart on Saturday, the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his welcome to Mr Thongloun's official visit to Japan, especially as it came just a month after he took office.

The Japanese Prime Minister said that he is planning to visit Laos in September for summit meetings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"I would like to pay an official visit to your country in September to take part in ASEAN-related summits," Abe said in a meeting with Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith in Nagoya, central Japan. "I would like to further develop bilateral relations."

Prime Minister Thongloun offered his sympathies to those affected by the devastating earthquakes that rocked Kumamoto Prefecture and neighboring areas in southwestern Japan in April.

In the meeting, Mr Abe said Japan will "fully assist" Laos toward the success of ASEAN-related summits the country will host in September, according to Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko who briefed journalists about the meeting.

"The development of Laos is to ASEAN's benefit, and the development of ASEAN is to Japan's benefit," Abe was quoted by Seko as saying. "Japan would like to extend as much support as possible so that ASEAN-related summits will yield good results."

The Japanese Prime Minister said that Japan is ready to cooperate with Laos in increasing economic integration in five ASEAN countries along the Mekong River. He cited higher connectivity as key to the region's development.

Prime Minister Thongloun welcomed a recent increase in the number of Japanese investors in Laos, and expressed hope for an early launch of direct flights between the two countries in line with a bilateral aviation agreement that came into force earlier this month.

At present, the number of Japanese investors in Laos has doubled to 126 from the 2012 level, according to Japanese government data.

Source:
courtesy of KPL NEWS AGENCY

by KPL

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