Top Lao leader recounts close comradeship with late Party General Secretary

General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith gives an interview to Vietnam News Agency. — VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Tú

VIENTIANE — General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith has recounted the close comradeship with Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng and shared what he learned from the late Vietnamese leader.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s correspondents in Vientiane, the top leader of Laos said General Secretary Trọng had in-depth knowledge in terms of both theory and practice about the socio-economic development in Việt Nam.

The Party chief has conducted intensive research into Marxism-Leninism and the path to socialism, and most importantly, applied Hồ Chí Minh Thought in his leadership, building a constantly growing Việt Nam, Sisoulith said.

Việt Nam has received many praises in the world as a nation with stable development and remarkable progress, he continued, attributing the country’s socio-economic development pace to the wise leadership of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) founded and led by President Hồ Chí Minh.

Sisoulith also praised the resolute, sound and precise guidelines and policies initiated and directed by General Secretary Trọng, which helped spur national development and improve people’s living standards.

The Lao leader held that General Secretary Trọng systematically researched Marxism-Leninism and combined it with Hồ Chí Minh Thought in reality, emphasising that the theories researched and put forth by him have become a valuable heritage for the CPV and the world.

Hailing the Vietnamese Party chief’s research works and books, Sisoulith said the path to socialism that Trọng mentioned in his writings is the road to the new era of Việt Nam, sharing his view that countries around the world and parties, both ruling and non-ruling, are all researching and studying the theories initiated by the General Secretary.

He added that he has received many pieces of writings of the Party chief from Vietnamese comrades, and will spend time studying them with a view to apply them in socio-economic development and Party building in Laos.

The Lao leader recalled that he had met, worked and had meals with General Secretary Trọng numerous times, and was impressed by the Vietnamese Party chief’s capability and extensive knowledge.

The General Secretary put forward a consistent foreign policy, helping Việt Nam stand out in the international arena in each period, he went on, calling the late leader’s outstanding achievements a legacy for future generations to continue his foreign policy.

“After every time I met and talked to him, I want to meet again and talk to him more, because his way of talking was close to Lao people, Lao leaders and myself, reflecting his openness and straightforwardness,” Sisoulith said, describing each exchange of experience between him and General Secretary Trọng was really between comrades and true brothers, with mutual respect.

“Although comrade Trọng has passed away, the love, true gratitude, and respectable comradeship will forever be in my heart,” the Lao leader said.

He remembered that General Secretary Trọng once told him that “We work together, we progress together, we learn from each other.” He recalled that every time meeting him, Trọng always said mutual support is very important, citing President Hồ Chí Minh as saying “helping our friends is helping yourself.”

According to Sisoulith, he always repeated the saying of comrade Trọng to other Lao leaders, officials and his own family. The Vietnamese Party also used to say that the friendship and solidarity between Laos and Việt Nam are unique in the world, Sisoulith said, stressing that those words really came from his heart. — VNS