At the invitation of Dr. Somkot MANGNOMEK, the Minister of Education of Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the visiting delegation of Soochow University led by President Zhu Xiulin made a friendly visit to Laos from April 1st to 5th.

  In the afternoon of April 3rd, Laos Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh received the visiting delegation in his office and had a cordial talk with President Zhu Xiulin. President Zhu Xiulin firstly briefly introduced the past and present of Soochow University as well as the plan and preliminary preparations for establishing Laos-Soochow University in Laos. Then he hoped that Laos government would give support and assistance to the cooperation programs. Being close neighbors, China and Laos share common ideas and Laos were very grateful to Chinese government’s generous assistance and support in its development, Laos Prime Minister Bouasone said,. When talking about the cooperation education progams, Prime Minister Bouasone said that Laos had always attached great importance to education and in recent years, while focusing on economic development and the exploitation of natural resources, it also paid special attention to the development of human resources and talent training. However, because of limited funds for education, Laos encouraged foreign universities to run schools in Laos and help train talents. The Prime Minister said, Soochow University’s plan to establish “Laos-Soochow University” conformed to Laos’s national policy. He promised to give full support to the school projects. Besides, the Prime Minister thanked Soochow University for providing scholarships to 30 Laos’s students enabling them to pursue advanced studies in China. During the meeting, President Zhu Xiulin kindly invited Prime Minister Bouasone to visit Soochow University. Being grateful to the invitation, Prime Minister Bouasone promised he would.

  While in Laos, President Zhu Xiulin and his party visited some government departments of Laos, such as Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Bureau of Land Management, Ministry of Planning and Investment, the National Corporation of Land Development and Service and discussed with the ministers the plans to establish “Laos-Soochow University”、 Health Care Center as well as the Sericulture and Aquaculture Technical Guidance Center. The visiting delegation also visited National University of Laos and both parties exchanged views on carrying out education cooperation and exchange.