Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives Ferdinand Martin Romualdez (R) hands over a resolution to National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on strengthening cooperation between the Philippines and Vietnam with the establishment of the Philippine-Vietnam Parliamentarians' Friendship Society in 2022. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The upcoming state visitto Vietnam by Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. will createmomentum for the bilateral ties in all spheres, Vietnamese Ambassador to thePhilippines Lai Thai Binh has affirmed.
In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency(VNA) ahead of the visit on January 29-30, the ambassador said Vietnam and thePhilippines established diplomatic relations on July 12, 1976, and officiallysigned an agreement to upgrade their relationship to a strategic partnership onNovember 17, 2015.
Since then, the bilateral ties have continuouslydeveloped in all fields, he said, elaborating that in politics, high-ranking leadersof the two countries have maintained mutual visits as well as talks andmeetings on the sidelines of multilateral conferences.
In 2022, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Huehad a very successful visit to the Philippines. Last year, Prime Minister PhamMinh Chinh had four talks and contacts with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.on the sidelines of high-level conferences, demonstrating the closeness andhigh political trust between the two countries.
The two sides have also maintained and enhanced theefficiency of cooperation forums on national defence and security, bothbilaterally and within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), thediplomat continued.
The bilateral trade experienced a more thanthree-fold rise over the past 13 years, from 2.5 billion USD in 2010 to 7.8billion USD in 2022, which remained unchanged last year, he said.
In addition, cooperation in education, tourism and labouris also developing dynamically, contributing to strengthening people-to-peopleexchanges and deepening the strategic partnership, the ambassador added.
According to Binh, the Philippine President’s visithas been prepared and accelerated by both sides since he took office on June30, 2022, and it is set to reaffirm the solid strategic partnership, fosterpolitical trust at the highest levels, and create momentum to promote the bilateralcooperation in all fields and through all Party, Government, State, NationalAssembly and people-to-people exchange channels.
The visit is also important to strengthening ASEAN’ssolidarity and centrality, especially in the context of political and security uncertaintiesin the region and the world, including the situation in Myanmar and the EastSea.
Through the visit, the strategic cooperation betweenthe two countries is expected to be comprehensively consolidated, for the sakeof their people, and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in theregion and beyond, he said.
During thevisit, high-ranking Vietnamese and Philippine leaders are scheduled to witnessthe signing of some important agreements in such areas as politics-security,economy-trade, culture, education, tourism, agriculture and food security, Binhstressed.
He held that the similarities in geographicallocation, population, development level, history, culture and people willcreate a favourable foundation for the two countries to step up theircollaboration.
The two countries will prioritise boosting somespearheads in their cooperation, the diplomat said, explaining that they willfurther deploy and improve the efficiency of existing maritime dialogue andcooperation mechanisms.
They will also expand collaboration in defence industry,search and rescue operations, humanitarian aid and natural disaster response,while forging cooperation in fighting crimes and responding to traditional andnon-traditional security challenges, among other realms.
Two-way trade is set to reach 10 billion USD in thetime ahead, the ambassador said./.
