Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Saturday he is planning to visit Laos in September for summit meetings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"I would like to pay an official visit to your country in September to take part in ASEAN-related summits," Abe said in a meeting with Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith in Nagoya, part of which was open to the media. "I would like to further develop bilateral relations."
Abe welcomed Thongloun's official visit to Japan, especially as it came just a month after he took office. Thongloun attended an outreach session of the Group of Seven summit that ended Friday in Mie Prefecture as chair of the 10-member ASEAN group.