At the meeting between Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (Photo: VNA) Vientiane (VNA) – Deputy PrimeMinister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh had bilateral meetings withChinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Lao Minister ofForeign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith in Vientine on February 19.
The meetings took place on the occasion ofMinh’s participation in the fifth Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers'Meeting and Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on CoronavirusDisease (COVID-19) in Laos.
Meeting with Wang Yi, Minh expressed his sympathiesto China over the losses caused by COVID-19 and hoped China will overcome thisdifficult time soon.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (Photo: VNA) Regarding Vietnam-China relations, Minhsuggested the two sides enhance political trust via high-level delegationexchanges, and carry out activities to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomaticrelations.
He recommended improving the efficiency ofcooperation in all arenas, coordinating to effectively address border andterritory issues, and strengthening locality-to-locality cooperation andpeople-to-people exchanges.
The official asked China to continue applyingmeasures to narrow Vietnam’s trade deficit, and facilitate the export ofVietnamese goods to the market, especially farm produce.
He also called for more attention to solvingproblems in some cooperation projects, particularly the Cat Linh-Ha Dong urbanrailway.
On the sea issues, Deputy PM Minh highlightedVietnam’s stance of continuing to work with China and other countries in searchof measures to maintain peace, security and stability in the East Sea, whilefacilitating the negotiations on a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
For his part, Wang Yi thanked Vietnam forsupporting China in the fight against COVID-19.
He said China is willing to increase the importof Vietnamese products and will actively coordinate with Vietnam to solveexisting problems in the bilateral cooperation projects.
He affirmed China’s support for Vietnam inshouldering the role of the ASEAN Chair 2020 and a non-permanent member of theUN Security Council for 2020-2021.
At a meeting with the Lao foreign minister, hostand guest agreed to boost cooperation in implementing agreements reached by thetwo countries’ leaders and at the 42nd session of the Vietnam-Laosintergovernmental meeting in January.
At the meeting between Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and Lao Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith (Photo: VNA) The two sides agreed to intensify theimplementation of the foreign ministries’ cooperation agreement for 2014-2020and review the piloting of the one-stop-shop mechanism at the Lao Bao-Densavanborder gate.
Both countries pledged to strengthencoordination at regional and international forums.
Sharing their mutual concerns over thecomplicated development of COVID-19, the two sides agreed that ASEAN countriesshould strengthen coordination and take prompt actions to cope with thedisease./.
VNA
