Vietnam, Bangladesh issue joint statement

Vietnam and Bangladesh issued a joint statement on August 10 on the occasion of Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid’s Vietnam visit from August 9-13.

During their talks, President Truong Tan Sang and Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid expressed their desire to broaden existing cooperation and extend it to potential areas.

Agreeing to promoting political links between the two countries, they underscored the need to facilitate all-level visits and people-to-people exchanges.

They committed to pushing forward policy consultations, exchanges and dialogues while strengthening cooperation in national defence-security.

In order to raise trade to 1 billion USD by 2016 from 800 million USD last year, a host of trade and investment promotion activities are planned, particularly in the private sector, along with all possible support to their business communities.

The two leaders also consented to extend collaboration across garments, mining, energy, chemicals, engineering manufacturing, consumer products, food processing, iron and steel, construction and telecommunications.

Both sides spoke highly of their close coordination at regional and global forums, especially the United Nations, Non-Alignment Movement, South-South cooperation and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

President Sang hailed Bangladesh for its support to Vietnam’s bid for a seat at the 2014-2016 United Nations Human Rights Council and the UN Economic and Social Council for the 2016-2018 tenure and wished that Bangladesh would back Vietnam’s application for non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure.

The Bangladeshi side thanked Vietnam for its support to Bangladesh’s bid to become an official member of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the 2015-2017 tenure.

Both sides affirmed mutual support and proposed joint initiatives in fields of shared interest, including sustainable development, disaster response, water and food and energy security.

Both host and guest reiterated joint efforts for intensified coordination between ASEAN and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in diverse areas for the sake of peace, cooperation and development in Asia.

Vietnam took note of Bangladesh’s call for support for its bid as a dialogue partner of ASEAN and encouraged Bangladesh to propel its specific and effective links with ASEAN.

They also stressed the importance of maintaining peace and stability and respecting the fundamental principles of international law in addressing disputes on maritime safety and freedom.-VNA