On the sidelines of the 17 th ASEAN Summit and related summits, PrimeMinister Nguyen Tan Dung received separately in Hanoi on Oct. 30 NewZealand and Indian Prime Ministers and the President of the AsianDevelopment Bank.
Meeting with New Zealand PM John Key,PM Dung asked the two countries to implement well agreements reached atthe 3 rd meeting of the Joint Commission on Economy and Trade and boosttrade promotion.
PM Dung requested that the two sides soon signan agreement on avoidance of double taxation and negotiate a bilateralvacation employment programme.
He also asked New Zealand tomaintain and increase official development assistance to Vietnam andaffirmed that the Vietnamese government always create favourableconditions for New Zealand businesses to invest and do business inthe country.
PM John Key praised Vietnam ’s role as the ASEANChair of 2010. Witnessing New Zealand businesses operating in Ho ChiMinh City , he affirmed that cooperation potentials between the twocountries were large, especially in civil aviation and education andtraining. He invited PM Dung to pay an official visit to New Zealand .
Thetwo government leaders pledged to continue coordinate to expandcooperation between the two countries, focusing on trade, investment andlabour. They agreed to assigned relevant agencies work out measures toraise 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.
ReceivingIndian PM Manmohan Singh, PM Dung expressed his pleasure at the finedevelopment of bilateral relations in all fields and stated Vietnam’s determination to elevate the strategic partnership between the twocountries to a new height.
PM Dung appreciated India’s passionand support to Vietnam over the past time, especially in the year ofVietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship and thanked for their assistance toVietnamese flood victims. He expressed wish that India would furthercooperate with Vietnam in culture and education, providing morescholarships to Vietnamese students to study in India .
Hepraised India ’s “Look East” policy and supported the celebration ofthe 20 th anniversary of ASEAN-India in 2012, expecting that the FTA oninvestment and services between ASEAN and India would be signedsoon.
PM Dung affirmed that Vietnam always wanted to joinefforts with India to develop the two countries’ cooperationrelations, matching with their traditional friendship and strategicpartnership.
PM Manmohan Singh praised Vietnam ’s developmentachievements and affirmed that India attached importance to developingstrategic partnership with Vietnam , considering Vietnam is a bigfriend and brother of India .
The two PMs discussed somemeasures to further boost relations between the two countries as well ascooperation at regional and international fora.
They exchangedviews on peace, stability and free maritime access in the East Sea ,stressing that ASEAN and China should strictly implement theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).
Meetingwith ADB President Haruhiko Koruda, PM Dung thanked ADB for itsassistance to Vietnam ’s socio-economic development and said thatVietnam want to discuss with ADB to closely cooperate ininfrastructure investment, poverty reduction, healthcare, education andenvironment.
He asked ADB to give more assistance to Vietnam tocope with climate change, and reform of banking and financial system,as well as State enterprises, and serve as a bridge to mobilise outsideresources to Vietnam , including through the public-privatepartnership (PPP).
The two sides shared the same views that thebiggest challenge to Vietnam ’s economic development wasinfrastructure and quality of human resources. They agreed that theurgent demand was to reform the banking and financial sector andequitise State-owned enterprises.
PM Dung said Vietnam wouldstrongly reform economic institutions to integrate deeply into the worldand operate the economy following the market mechanism.
HaruhikoKoruda pledged that ADB would continue supply capital to major projectsof Vietnam , focusing on development of transport infrastructure,electricity and quality of education./.
