Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang held talks with his Philippine
counterpart, Benigno S. Aquino III in Manila on October 26, following
an official welcome ceremony at the Malacanan Palace.
At the talks, the Philippine President applauded President Sang’s
state visit, saying that it will make an important contribution to
lifting the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two
countries to a new level.
President Sang said he
was pleased to visit the Philippines for the first time as State
President of Vietnam and congratulated the Philippine Government and
people for recent successes in national construction and development.
President Benigno S. Aquino III expressed his belief that Vietnam
will successfully implement its 2011-2020 socio-economic development
strategy, turning it into an industrialised country soon.
The leaders expressed their pleasure at fine developments of the
friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and the
Philippines over the past 35 years in all fields ranging from politics,
diplomacy, defence, security to economics, trade and investment,
maritime, agro-forestry, fisheries, education and training, culture and
tourism.
They agreed to continue discussions on
the possibility of bringing the bilateral cooperation to a strategic
level, for the interests of the two countries’ people as well as for
peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region.
Applauding positive developments in defence and security cooperation
between the two countries, the Presidents highly valued the signing of a
cooperative document between the two naval forces and a document on the
establishment of a hotline.
Affirming maritime
cooperation as a pillar in bilateral ties, the leaders spoke highly of
the establishment of a joint committee on sea and ocean at the deputy
foreign minister level and the committee’s plan to convene its first
session in 2012.
They also exchanged views on the
issue of illegal fishing and welcomed the establishment of a
coordination mechanism between the two countries in dealing with this
issue.
The leaders agreed to bring two-way trade
between the two countries to at least 3 billion USD in 2016 and increase
investment in areas of their strength.
They said
the two countries should further expand cooperation in other fields such
as culture, tourism, education and training, energy, oil and gas and
environmental protection.
Regarding regional and
international issues, the Presidents affirmed that the two sides will
continue close cooperation and coordination at multilateral forums as
well as support each other’s bids to become members of regional and
international organisations.
The leaders also
discussed the East Sea-related issue, emphasising the importance of
ensuring peace, stability, marine security, safety and freedom in the
East Sea as well as peacefully solving disputes between concerned
parties on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea.
They stressed
the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
and the importance of the implementation of the Declaration on the
Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) towards building a Code of
Conduct (COC) of Parties in the East Sea .
President Sang invited President Benigno S. Aquino III to visit
Vietnam at an appropriate time and the Philippine leader accepted the
invitation with pleasure.
After the talks, President
Sang and his Philippine counterpart witnessed the signing of four
cooperative documents, including a Vietnam-Philippines action programme
for the 2011-2016 period, a memorandum of understanding on strengthening
cooperation and information sharing between the Vietnam People’s Navy
and the Philippines Navy.
A cooperative agreement on
the establishment of a hotline between the Vietnam Marine Police and
the Philippines Coast Guard, as well as a Vietnam-Philippines tourism
cooperation plan for the 2012-2015 period were also inked.
Later in the day, President Benigno S. Aquino III hosted a banquet
in honour of the Vietnamese President and his entourage./.