Jakarta (VNA) – Party General Secretary To Lam, his spouse Ngo Phuong Ly and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta on March 9 afternoon, commencing a state visit to Indonesia and an official visit to the ASEAN Secretariat based in the country until March 11.
The trip is made at the invitations of Indonesian President and President of the Great Indonesia Movement Party Prabowo Subianto and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn.
The Vietnamese delegation was welcomed by Indonesia's Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Denny Abdi, and other Indonesian officials. Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Ta Van Thong, Ambassador Ton Thi Ngoc Huong – Permanent Representative of Vietnam to ASEAN, and diplomatic staff were also present at the welcoming ceremony.
Indonesia honoured the delegation with a ceremonial seven-gun salute, showing the host attaches importance to this visit.
This marks the first visit by a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam to Indonesia in nearly eight years, since August 2017, and also the first by a Vietnamese Party chief to the ASEAN Secretariat.
The timing of the visit is particularly significant as the two countries are celebrating the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations this year, with Indonesia being the first Southeast Asian country to set up diplomatic ties with Vietnam. Over the past years, particularly since the establishment of the Strategic Partnership in 2013, Vietnam – Indonesia cooperation has developed in a more comprehensive and intensive fashion. The exchange of high-ranking delegations and contacts have been carried out regularly through both bilateral and multilateral forums.
Additionally, the trip coincides with the 30th anniversary of Vietnam's accession to ASEAN, a historic milestone for the country's regional and international integration process. Vietnam's contributions have been closely tied to ASEAN's meaningful development, helping strengthen a united, self-reliant, and open ASEAN Community./.
