Chilean President Sebastian Pinera Echenique left Ho Chi Minh City on March 25, concluding his five-day official visit to Vietnam.

During his visit, the Chilean President held talks with President Truong Tan Sang and met with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.

At the meetings, the two countries’ leaders spoke highly of the fine developments of bilateral ties over the past time. They expressed their pleasure with the signing and ratification of the Free Trade Agreement, which is expected to boost two-way trade further in the future.

The leaders agreed to regularly maintain high-ranking visits and political consultations between the two Foreign Ministries as well as soon put into operation the mechanism of the Vietnam-Chile inter-governmental cooperation committee.

The two sides reached a consensus that they would boost cooperation in mineral, metallurgy, agro-forestry-seafood production and processing, finance, telecommunications, hi-tech industries, environmental protection and response to climate change.

They also agreed to encourage and create conditions for their businesses to increase exchanges and set up direct relations, facilitating Vietnamese and Chilean goods and services to penetrate into broader regional markets.

Regarding international and regional issues of common concern, the two sides agreed to continue strengthening coordination and mutual support at organisations and multilateral forums such as the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) as well as in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement.

President Truong Tan Sang and his Chilean counterpart signed a Vietnam-Chile Joint Communiqué.-VNA