Laos Foreign Minister's Visit to Luxembourg Highlights Strong Bilateral Relations

At the invitation of his Luxembourg counterpart, Jean Asselborn, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Saleumxay Kommasith, undertook a working visit to the Grand Duchy on 26 and 27 June 2019.

The exchanges between the Luxembourg and Laos Foreign Ministers first focused on the excellence of bilateral relations, marked in particular by more than 20 years of partnership in the field of development cooperation. This partnership includes non-traditional fields such as the Laos-Luxembourg laboratory at the Pasteur Institute in Vientiane, as well as collaboration between the University of Luxembourg and the Laotian National University.

The two ministers also discussed the political and economic situation in Laos and the Grand Duchy, as well as relations between Laos and the EU. In this regard, discussions focused on regular dialogue on human rights, as well as the EU's relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The ministers concluded their meeting with a broad overview of the situation in Asia and in the EU in general.

During his visit to Luxembourg, Saleumxay Kommasith also met with Paulette Lenert, the Minister of Cooperation and Humanitarian Action. On this occasion, both ministers expressed their willingness to continue their cooperation before discussing the different sectors that could be addressed in the coming years. Indeed, a working visit by Minister Lenert to this priority partner country for Luxembourg Cooperation is scheduled for September 2019.

The Laos Foreign Minister also met with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel to further discuss bilateral relations between the two countries as well as contemporary political affairs in the region.