Philippines, Laos Affirm Long-Standing Ties in Ambassador's Introductory Call on DFA Undersecretary

PASAY CITY 20 March 2023 – Ambassador Sonexay Vannaxay of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) paid an introductory call on Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro on 16 March 2023.

The Ambassador presented his credentials to the President on 5 December 2022, thus officially commencing his tour of duty as Lao PDR Ambassador to the Philippines.

During the call, Undersecretary Lazaro reaffirmed the long-standing friendship between the Philippines and the Lao PDR, and expressed confidence in the country’s upcoming Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2024.

Ambassador Sonexay highlighted the expanding cooperation between the two countries across a broad range of areas, including defense, trade and investments, education and technical and capacity-building cooperation. The Undersecretary assured the Ambassador of the Philippines’ continuing assistance to Laos’ human resources development, including the training of young diplomats.

Undersecretary Lazaro also said that the Philippines is looking forward to the 2nd meeting of the Philippines-Lao PDR Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) in Vientiane this year. The JCBC is the chief Ministerial-level bilateral dialogue mechanism for reviewing all aspects of the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Both sides also discussed the anticipated celebration in 2025 of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Lao PDR, which were established on 14 January 1955. END