His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and His Excellency Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic reiterated their commitment to further enhance the two countries' friendship for their mutual benefit and acknowledged that continuous efforts are ongoing to strengthen and diversify existing cooperation. The commitment was stated in the joint statement of 12 matters issued in Bandar Seri Begawan in conjunction with His Excellency's official visit to Brunei Darussalam.

His Majesty and His Excellency agreed to encourage frequent high-level exchanges and will make good use of bilateral mechanisms to coordinate and enhance bilateral cooperation in various areas. In this regard, both leaders welcome the convening of the 2nd Brunei Darussalam - Lao PDR Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation which was held in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR on 6 June 2018 and look forward to the 3rd meeting in Brunei Darussalam in the near future.

His Majesty and His Excellency also welcomed the efforts to enhance bilateral trade and encourage their business people to actively engage for business opportunities. In this regard, they welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in information sharing between the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Brunei Darussalam and the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as an initiative to facilitate information sharing and explore potential collaborations between business communities of the two countries.

The leaders also agreed to strengthen cooperation in education and welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Education which will serve to encourage academic exchanges and promote collaboration in areas of mutual interest.

His Majesty expressed pleasure in the financial and technical assistance that Brunei Darussalam had provided to the Lao PDR, in the form of humanitarian assistance, project developments, transport equipment, capacity-building, scholarships and English language training programmes.  On his side, His Excellency expressed his sincere gratitude to the Government of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam for the continued support and cooperation provided to the Lao PDR in various areas including the humanitarian relief as a result of natural disaster.

In addressing issues of international money laundering, both Leaders appreciated the importance of joint collaboration in overcoming the issues.  Both leaders also welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Exchange of Information related to Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing on July 2018.

His Majesty and His Excellency also exchanged views and agreed to enhance cooperation on regional and international issues of mutual concern. Both leaders acknowledged the importance of upholding ASEAN centrality as well as the need to continue working collectively to achieve the goals of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and its various Blueprints, Initiative for ASEAN Integration as well as the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025.

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect

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