Hanoi (VNA) - General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and senior officials of the Party and State of Laos on March 10 inspected the progress of the National Assembly Building in Vientiane - a gift from Vietnam to Laos, which will serve the 9th legislature’s first session from March 22-26.

Attending the working session were Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung, representatives of the project management boards of the two countries and officers and soldiers of Army Corps 11 - the project’s construction unit.

Major General Nguyen Quoc Dung, Commander of the Army Corps 11, reported that despite difficulties caused by the rainy and hot weather in Laos, as well as impacts of the COVID-9 pandemic, the unit has so far completed most of the works.

He said the Corps and other units participating in the project are doing their best to be able to hand over the works before March 22, while providing operation training for the Lao side.

In his speech, Sisoulith said he was impressed and appreciated the efforts to overcome difficulties, responsibility and skills of soldiers and officers of the Corps to complete a huge amount of work with good quality.

The Lao leader expressed his belief that all the items that will be used for the first session of the 9th National Assembly of Laos will be put into operation on schedule, and remaining ones will also be completed soon.

The building, the gift of the Vietnamese Party, State and people to their Lao counterparts, will last for at least five centuries, deserving a symbol of the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, he stressed.

Covering an area of 23,400sq.m, the new building is built on the foundation of the old one with an investment of over 100 million USD. It is located in the middle of Thatluang Square in Vientiane./.