Vietnam, Mexico forge practical, effective cooperation

Hanoi (VNA) – The Foreign Ministries of Vietnam and Mexico agreed to take measures to boost the bilateral cooperation between the two nations in an intensive, practical and effective manner.

During the fourth political consultation at deputy foreign ministerial level in Hanoi on September 7 jointly chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc and his Mexican counterpart Carlos de Icaza, the two sides agreed to enhance delegation exchanges and contacts at high levels as well as between ministries, localities and enterprises.

They updated each other on the situation in their respective countries and reviewed bilateral affiliation over recent time.

They highlighted the joint activities to mark the 40th founding anniversary of the diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Mexico in 2015.

Bilateral trade reached 2.2 billion USD last year, a 10-fold increase from 2005, while ties in culture, education, health care also saw expansion.

The two sides agreed that there is potential for cooperation in trade, agro-fishery, manufacturing and processing, energy – oil and gas, mining and biotechnology.

They agreed to early set the Vietnam – Mexico Joint Committee on economic, trade and investment cooperation working under the agreement signed on February 4, 2016, and accelerate negotiations on a series of agreements including those on double taxation avoidance and customs cooperation.

The two sides intended to work together to exploit benefits from multilateral economic mechanisms such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) to which they are members.

The two sides also affirmed they will continue supporting each other at international organisations and multilateral forums, and shared the view on the settlement of disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of respecting international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982) without using force or threatening to use force.

During the stay, the Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister had a working session with Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh and attended a workshop on investment opportunities in Mexico.-VNA