Hanoi (VNA) – Party General Secretary To Lam received Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta in Hanoi on February 25 during the latter’s visit to Vietnam to attend the second ASEAN Future Forum.
During the reception, Lam warmly welcomed Jose Ramos-Horta back to Vietnam following his state visit in August 2024. The top Vietnamese leader congratulated Timor-Leste on its significant achievements in socio-economic development and expressed confidence that the country will soon realise its strategic development plan for the 2011-2030 period with a determination to build a democratic country that actively integrates into the region and the world.
For his part, President Jose Ramos-Horta expressed admiration for Vietnam's national construction and development, viewing it as a development model. He affirmed that Timor-Leste values and wishes to further enhance its friendship relations with Vietnam.
Both leaders expressed satisfaction with the implementation of outcomes of the President's state visit. Notably, bilateral trade in 2024 increased by 21.4% compared to 2023, and the agreement on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports is now in effect. Also, the investment and business activities of Viettel Group in Timor-Leste has positively contributed to the local socio-economic development.
Discussing major orientations for future cooperation, both sides agreed to enhance exchanges and meetings at all levels, and work toward establishing new bilateral mechanisms that meet the cooperation needs of both countries. Another goal is to effectively tap cooperation potential in other important fields, especially agriculture, fisheries, food processing, telecommunications, education, oil and gas, infrastructure construction, aviation, tourism, and people-to-people exchange.
President Rose Ramos-Horta thanked the host for sharing valuable experience regarding Vietnam's development and international integration. He agreed to closely coordinate with Vietnam to create new changes in economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries, and to expand cooperation in promising areas such as investment, finance, agriculture, and infrastructure development, including industrial zones, airports, seaports, tourism, and information and communications.
He supported Vietnam's proposals for cooperation to capture and leverage new trends for development. President Jose Ramos-Horta said he hopes that Vietnam will continue to share experience and support Timor-Leste in developing human resources, ensuring food security, and reducing poverty.
Regarding regional and international issues of mutual concern, both sides agreed to continue strengthening cooperation and mutual support at international and regional organisations.
The Vietnamese leader said he appreciates Timor-Leste's determination and efforts in implementing its roadmap to gain a full ASEAN membership, affirming Vietnam's support for its accession to ASEAN.
The guest confirmed that Timor-Leste fully supports Vietnam's candidacies in multilateral mechanisms, including United Nations agencies./.
