Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó opened a Hungarian embassy in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, making Hungary the fourth EU member country operating an embassy in the country. The ministry cited Szijjártó telling the opening event that Hungary and Laos had established diplomatic relations more than sixty years ago but they raised their cooperation to a level of strategic partnership only five years ago. Since then, Laos has had an embassy in Budapest and now Hungary also has one in Laos, he added. Hungary is the fourth EU member state after Germany, France and Luxembourg to open an embassy in Vientiane, Szijjártó said. He said that despite the tens of thousands of kilometre distance between the two countries, he and his Laotian counterpart could develop successful political and economic cooperation thanks to a common appreciation of the importance of mutual respect and dialogue. Building ties is also helped by the fact that both countries have fought a lot for their freedom, he added. Hungarian companies have made investments worth some 200 million dollars in Laos in recent years, mainly in agriculture, water management and the development of public administration, he said. The success of cooperation is also demonstrated by a fifty-fold increase in bilateral trade this year, he added.