Prime Minister Bouphavanh Bouasone of Laos

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Bouasone had previously served as first deputy prime minister since October 3, 2003.

Trained in the Soviet Union and appointed prime minister at the age of 52, Bouasone is part of a new generation of leaders in the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, harbingering a possible shift in Laos' traditional firm reliance on its ties to Vietnam, to increased reliance and cooperation with China.

Agreeing with Hu's views, Bouasone said the development of the bilateral relations not only serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also helps maintain the regional and world peace and prosperity.

In his meeting with Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo, Bouasone said that the expansion of the cooperation in the trade and economic fields, and cooperation between enterprises of the two countries was "an inner need" of the development of bilateral ties.

Bouasone said Laos will cooperate closely with China in a bid to push forward bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

Bouasone said Hu's visit has brought the existing friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries to a new height, adding that the Lao central and local governments would implement in real earnest the consensus reached by the top leaders of the two countries regarding cooperation in various areas, strengthen close coordination and cooperation between the cooperation committees and raise the level of economic and trade cooperation.

Bouasone was warmly welcomes by his DPRK counterpart Mr.

Mr Bouasone said there had been many problems regarding land management recently, which was why the government was calling a halt to allow some time for better planning.

Trained in Russia, Bouasone was appointed with four deputy prime ministers, including General Douangchay Phichit, who kept his job as defence minister.

problem that has resulted in huge losses of income for the government.

During his four-day trip, Bouasone met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other Japanese officials to discuss bilateral relations and regional and global issues.

In addition to bilateral relations, Abe and Bouasone discussed regional and global issues, including the issue of North Korea's nuclear program and Laos' accession to the International Whaling Commission (IWC.

In his talks with Abe last week, Bouasone expressed "his strong wish and commitment to develop special economic zones in other areas besides Savannakhet to make full use of the Second Mekong Friendship Bridge and highways under the East-West Economic Corridor framework", according to their joint press statement.