On the sidelines of the 17 th ASEAN Summit and related summits, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung received separately in Hanoi on Oct. 30 New Zealand and Indian Prime Ministers and the President of the Asian Development Bank.
Meeting with New Zealand PM John Key, PM Dung asked the two countries to implement well agreements reached at the 3 rd meeting of the Joint Commission on Economy and Trade and boost trade promotion.
PM Dung requested that the two sides soon sign an agreement on avoidance of double taxation and negotiate a bilateral vacation employment programme.
He also asked New Zealand to maintain and increase official development assistance to Vietnam and affirmed that the Vietnamese government always create favourable conditions for New Zealand businesses to invest and do business in the country.
PM John Key praised Vietnam ’s role as the ASEAN Chair of 2010. Witnessing New Zealand businesses operating in Ho Chi Minh City , he affirmed that cooperation potentials between the two countries were large, especially in civil aviation and education and training. He invited PM Dung to pay an official visit to New Zealand .
The two government leaders pledged to continue coordinate to expand cooperation between the two countries, focusing on trade, investment and labour. They agreed to assigned relevant agencies work out measures to raise import-export turnover.
They also agreed to continue to coordinate and support each other at regional and international fora, including the UN.
PM John Key affirmed to support Vietnam in negotiations of the Trans Pacific Strategic Partnership Agreement.
Receiving Indian PM Manmohan Singh, PM Dung expressed his pleasure at the fine development of bilateral relations in all fields and stated Vietnam ’s determination to elevate the strategic partnership between the two countries to a new height.
PM Dung appreciated India’s passion and support to Vietnam over the past time, especially in the year of Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship and thanked for their assistance to Vietnamese flood victims. He expressed wish that India would further cooperate with Vietnam in culture and education, providing more scholarships to Vietnamese students to study in India .
He praised India ’s “Look East” policy and supported the celebration of the 20 th anniversary of ASEAN-India in 2012, expecting that the FTA on investment and services between ASEAN and India would be signed soon.
PM Dung affirmed that Vietnam always wanted to join efforts with India to develop the two countries’ cooperation relations, matching with their traditional friendship and strategic partnership.
PM Manmohan Singh praised Vietnam ’s development achievements and affirmed that India attached importance to developing strategic partnership with Vietnam , considering Vietnam is a big friend and brother of India .
The two PMs discussed some measures to further boost relations between the two countries as well as cooperation at regional and international fora.
They exchanged views on peace, stability and free maritime access in the East Sea , stressing that ASEAN and China should strictly implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).
Meeting with ADB President Haruhiko Koruda, PM Dung thanked ADB for its assistance to Vietnam ’s socio-economic development and said that Vietnam want to discuss with ADB to closely cooperate in infrastructure investment, poverty reduction, healthcare, education and environment.
He asked ADB to give more assistance to Vietnam to cope with climate change, and reform of banking and financial system, as well as State enterprises, and serve as a bridge to mobilise outside resources to Vietnam , including through the public-private partnership (PPP).
The two sides shared the same views that the biggest challenge to Vietnam ’s economic development was infrastructure and quality of human resources. They agreed that the urgent demand was to reform the banking and financial sector and equitise State-owned enterprises.
PM Dung said Vietnam would strongly reform economic institutions to integrate deeply into the world and operate the economy following the market mechanism.
Haruhiko Koruda pledged that ADB would continue supply capital to major projects of Vietnam , focusing on development of transport infrastructure, electricity and quality of education./.
