President hosts Malaysian Prime Minister

Hanoi (VNA) - President Vo Van Thuong received visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Hanoi on July 21.

The president emphasised that the PM's official visit to Vietnam on July 20 and 21 holds significant importance, helping generate new momentum for the countries’ strategic partnership.

Anwar highlighted Vietnam's crucial role within ASEAN and affirmed Malaysia's appreciation of and wish to enhance the bilateral strategic partnership.

Expressing their satisfaction with the positive and substantive results obtained over the past 50 years since the establishment of the nations’ diplomatic ties, both host and guest welcomed the promotion of cooperation across the party, state, and government channels, and the strengthening of the exchanges of the sides’ high-level delegations. They stressed the significance of fortifying collaboration in defence, security, economy, trade, investment, education-training, tourism, culture, food security, and people-to-people exchange.

The Malaysian PM underscored the importance of sharing experiences and exchanges between Vietnamese and Malaysian political and social organisations as well as young leaders. He said he admires the life and career of President Ho Chi Minh and wishes to make known of the late Vietnamese leader’s "Prison Diary" in Malaysia. The work is a collection of more than 100 poems written in Chinese characters during 12 months between 1942 and 1943 when Ho Chi Minh was imprisoned in China's Guangxi province.

Discussing international and regional issues, the two leaders lauded the sides’ close coordination at regional and international forums and emphasised the importance of maintaining ASEAN’s solidarity and centrality in building a strong and self-reliant ASEAN Community.

Thuong proposed that the two sides further support each other at regional and international forums, uphold ASEAN's common stance on the East Sea, ensure the full and serious implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and promote negotiations for an effective and legally-binding Code of Conduct in the waters (COC) in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

On the occasion, PM Anwar Ibrahim conveyed an invitation from the Malaysian King to President Thuong, inviting him to visit Malaysia at an appropriate time this year, which marks the 50th anniversary of the nations’ diplomatic relations. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese State leader invited the Malaysian King and Queen to visit Vietnam at a suitable time./.