Students of International Relations of VSUES met with the Honorary Consul of Laos

Within the framework of the 25th anniversary of the dialogue partnership and the 30th anniversary of relations between Russia and ASEAN, a meeting of students of the Department of International Relations and Law with Honorary Consul of the Lao People''s Democratic Republic Alexander Virich took place at the Boiling Point of the VSUES. He told the students about the peculiarities of the diplomat''s profession, as well as about the relations between Russia and Laos.

The Speaker noted that now there is an active development of Russian-Lao relations, within which mutually beneficial socio-cultural exchange and exchange of resources are carried out. And thanks to the opening in December 2021 of a new railway line between China and Laos, it will become faster, more profitable and easier for Russian citizens to get to the country of «million elephants and the white umbrella» through China, as well as for Laotians, trips to Russia will no longer be as expensive as before, when it was necessary to get by air «on the crossbar».

— The Government of Laos is currently developing plans for the opening and operation of the railway line in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, which will meet the requirements for preventive measures and ensure the safety of people, — said the speaker.

— The journey from Vientiane to Vladivostok by high-speed railway can take only 2-3 days, which will give impetus to the development of cooperation in various fields. For example, there will be new opportunities to expand educational and research projects within the framework of international academic mobility of students, teachers and scientists of our two countries. The expansion of cooperation in trade, economic and financial spheres, the development of trade turnover and, of course, new opportunities for the promotion of tourist services will also be a good basis for the further development and strengthening of bilateral ties, bringing them to a new level. It is important for Russia to have a presence in the Laos market, the Honorary consul added. — And now several Russian companies are operating in the country. For example, «RusHydro» is currently building five hydroelectric power plants on the Mekong River.

— Talking to the consul in person is an invaluable experience for me as a future diplomat. At the lecture, I learned many interesting things from the experience of the consul, and I am sure it will help me in my professional activity — the 2nd-year student of the International Relations training course shared her impressions Ekaterina Pozdnyakova.

— The lecture was very interesting, and in the future it would be interesting for me to listen to the speeches of politicians representing South Korea and Japan — Valeria Kirillova, a 2nd-year student of the International Relations training course, expressed her wish.

Reference

The first group of students from Laos came to VSUES for the Preparatory Department for Foreign Citizens in 2013.

VSUES is one of the few Russian universities with which Laos has concluded an agreement on the resumption of exchange programs after the removal of coronavirus restrictions.

Russian language teacher is annually sent to the partner University of Laos within the framework of the cooperation agreement between VSUES and the Lao National University (Vientiane) to teach students the Russian language and culture.

Upon returning to their homeland, our Lao graduates have the opportunity to hold prestigious positions in the civil service.

As of 2020, more than half of all Lao citizens studying in Russia are students of VSUES.