Hungary to build strategic ties with Laos – Laotian FM Kommasith in Budapest

Hungary will raise its bilateral ties with Laos to a strategic level, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said after talks with Saleumxay Kommasith, his Laotian counterpart, in Budapest on Monday.

Laos has been a “traditional partner” for Hungary in one of the fastest developing regions of the world and it has had a high economic growth in the past two decades, Szijjártó said, adding that cooperation could be profitable for Hungary. He also praised the achievements of Hungary’s economic diplomacy, which have proven that “it is possible to help Hungarian companies to successful business in remote countries if we use appropriate economic and diplomatic tools”.

Laos and Hungary have so far completed two major projects, worth a combined 38.6 million dollars and financed through a tied aid programme, in the areas of farming and food safety, Szijjártó said. An agreement to launch a third project, worth 160 million dollars, has been made, he added.

Hungarian companies are currently helping Laos with building a new food safety chain, renewing the sewerage system of Vientiane, the Laotian capital, and introducing electronic IDs, while talks are under way to launch a fourth programme of health investment, Szijjártó said.