The money will be used to buy 25 computer sets, 25 sets of tables and chairs, and one photocopy machine, according to the Ho Chi Minh city Committee on Overseas Vietnamese Affairs.

Ho Chi Minh City on April 2 presented VND 590 million (USD 25,653) to Champasak Friendship Primary School in Laos's Champasak province to buy school equipment, reported VNA.

The city Committee on Overseas Vietnamese Affairs also gifted the Vietnamese Association in Champasak VND 16 million (USD 695) worth of medicine, along with 10,000 medical masks to border guards in La Lay international border gate, and 2,500 notebooks to poor students in A Ngo commune of Dakrong district of the central Quang Tri province.

Addressing the ceremony to present the gifts in La Lay international border guard in Quang Tri, Tran Duc Hien, Vice Chairman of the the Committee said that the gifts show the sentiments and attention of leaders and locals of the city to overseas Vietnamese in Laos, contributing to fostering the solidarity and friendship between people of Vietnam and Laos.

The Champasak Friendship Primary School was set up in 1978, becoming a symbol of the feeling of Vietnamese community in Laos towards their fatherland.

Currently, the school has nearly 500 students, 50 percent of whom are Lao students who have learnt Vietnamese language from the first grade.

Earlier, a ceremony was held in Vientiane on March 20 to hand over the new National Assembly Building to the Lao legislature, which is a gift from the Vietnamese Party, State and people.

The Lao NA Building, constructed at a cost of over USD 111 million, will be the venue for meetings of the Lao NA and important ceremonies. It will also serve cultural tours and research trips of the people, students and tourists.

The building is a meaningful present and a symbol of the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries./.

Hannah Nguyen