Laos - second homeland, full of brotherly love

When talking about Laos, many people surely remember the beautiful Champa flower and a peaceful country, where there are close, sincere and loyal friends and comrades. As for me personally, Laos is the country where I spent my youth studying and where I grew up during my work.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Minh Tam presented his credentials to Lao General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith on the occasion of his new term of office, September 30, 2024. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in Laos)

That is why, returning to Laos this time as Ambassador, I feel like I am visiting and working in my second homeland with honor, pride, responsibility, and enthusiasm.

Back to the second homeland

On September 30, 2024, just 4 days after arriving in Vientiane, the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs arranged for me to present my credentials to General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith. The presentation of the credentials of the Vietnamese Ambassador was also different from the usual practice of Ambassadors of other countries with heartfelt instructions, confidences, and advice from the highest leader of the Lao Party and State, like brothers in a family, and of course, the time was also twice as long as usual.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Minh Tam. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in Laos)

This is probably a special favor as you said only for the Vietnamese Ambassador. Through that, I feel more deeply the passionate opinions of comrade Thongloun Sisoulith about the special relationship between Vietnam and Laos.

It is a relationship that is “unique in the world ” and is summarized by four words: Comradeship, which is comrades who share the same communist ideals, socialist ideals; special solidarity, fighting together in the same trenches against the common enemy to liberate the nation in the past as well as solidarity and companionship in the process of building, protecting and developing the country today, ready to sacrifice for each other unconditionally, united, close, loyal ; brotherhood, which is both Parties have the same origin as the Indochinese Communist Party, supporting and helping each other, “a grain of rice bitten in half, a piece of vegetable broken in half”; friendship , which is close neighbors, sharing joys and sorrows together in times of need.

Thanks to that special brotherly affection, the activities of the Embassy and the Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos in recent times have always been facilitated by senior leaders, ministries, central and local departments of Laos. Therefore, after more than 10 months of working here, I was arranged to greet all the comrades of the Politburo, the Secretariat and leaders of ministries, central departments, visited and worked in 15/18 provinces/cities of Laos and other tasks of the Embassy were also very favorable and effective.

Wherever we go in Laos, we always see images showing the close bond between Vietnam and Laos like brothers. An impressive image was during the recent working trip of the Embassy Delegation to Xieng Khouang province, a northern province of Laos. Due to the impact of storm Wipha causing floods, bridges and roads were flooded, making it impossible for vehicles to pass through. The people and officials of the province held hands to help the delegation wade through the rushing water. Perhaps only Vietnam and Laos have such a deep brotherly and comradely affection!

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Minh Tam visited Nguyen Du Lao-Vietnamese Bilingual School on October 4, 2024. (Source: Nhan Dan)

One heart

Besides the honor, I also feel the heavy responsibility of my position as the Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos. Because with the stature of the “special of special” relationship like that between Vietnam and Laos, I myself will have to make every effort to continue the efforts of previous generations.

From that awareness, I have set out directions for my term as Ambassador with much enthusiasm and cherished motto: whatever is beneficial to the Vietnam-Laos relationship must be done with all my might, whatever is harmful to the Vietnam-Laos relationship must be avoided with all my might, and I must carry out well the teachings of President Ho Chi Minh that "helping friends is helping ourselves".

Continuing the achievements of previous Ambassadors, I have and will, together with the Embassy and Vietnamese representative agencies in Laos, strive to do our best to do a good job of research and advising the leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam in relations with Laos; act as a bridge, coordinate, and support ministries, branches, and localities to improve the effectiveness of cooperation with Lao partners, including the effective implementation of the Agreements between the high-ranking leaders of the two Parties and two countries, the Joint Statements, and Cooperation Agreements between the two countries.

Along with that, closely coordinate with the Lao side to promote the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, two States and peoples to develop more deeply, practically and effectively in all channels of Party diplomacy, State diplomacy, people-to-people diplomacy, and cooperation fields; especially, coordinate to find measures to create breakthroughs in economic, trade and investment cooperation to match the good political, defense-security and foreign relations between the two countries.

Another concern is how to build a united and strong Vietnamese community in Laos, contributing better to building a prosperous Laos, looking towards the Fatherland and joining hands to foster the special Vietnam-Laos relationship.

To do this, the Embassy needs to continue to be the common home of the community, strengthen its support for the Vietnamese community in Laos to carry out meaningful activities with Lao authorities at all levels, contributing to educating all classes of people, especially the young generation, to deeply understand the special nature of the special relationship between the two countries, preserve the cultural identity and Vietnamese language, and at the same time arouse pride and responsibility to preserve and nurture the relationship to develop to new heights.

To achieve these things, in addition to our own efforts, we hope that the leaders and officials of the departments, ministries and branches of Vietnam and Laos will continue to pay attention to directing, creating favorable conditions and supporting the Embassy and the Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos to fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party, State and people of Vietnam, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two countries, contributing to fostering the Vietnam-Laos relationship to be forever green and forever sustainable.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/dat-nuoc-lao-que-huong-thu-hai-tham-tinh-dong-chi-anh-em-324131.html