President Truong Tan Sang on June 28 met with Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives Marzuki Alie as part of his two-day visit to the country.

At the meeting, President Sang congratulated Indonesia on its recent achievements, especially in maintaining a high economic growth rate, looking towards sustainable development and successfully implementing the “Master Plan on the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development” for the 2011-2015 period.

The Vietnamese State leader briefed his host on the outcomes of his talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which the two sides agreed to officially upgrade Vietnam-Indonesia relations to a strategic partnership.

For his part, Indonesian Speaker Marzuki Alie considered the establishment of the Vietnam-Indonesia strategic partnership an important milestone in the two countries’ relationship.

The Indonesian Parliament will work with the Vietnamese National Assembly to form the Indonesia-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians Group, he affirmed.

Host and guest noted with pleasure the fruitful developments in the relationship between the two countries.

Both agreed that the exchange of experience in legislative work as well as the promotion of negotiations and signing of an agreement between the Vietnamese National Assembly and the Indonesian Senate will create a full legal foundation for cooperation between the two legislative bodies in particular and the two countries in general.

On the same day, President Sang visited the headquarters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and met with ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh.

The President underlined the need for ASEAN to increase intra-bloc links and regional connectivity, actively contributing to enhancing a peaceful and stable environment for mutual development.

Vietnam will contribute to joint efforts to promote links and the building of the ASEAN Community in a proactive and responsible manner, he affirmed.

He voiced the country’s support for further increasing the role and capacity of the ASEAN Secretariat as the group is accelerating cooperation towards the establishment of the ASEAN Community.

In the presence of representatives of ASEAN member countries, partners and guests, the Vietnamese State leader affirmed Vietnam ’s consistent policy and responsible contributions for a united and strong ASEAN community.

He urged ASEAN member countries to make greater efforts to finalise the ASEAN Community by 2015 and continue to raise its voice in issues regarding peace and security in the region in order to promote the central role of the ten-member group.

It is necessary for ASEAN to maintain its traditional identity and firm stance while flexibly coping with unexpected problems as the regional and international situation ceaselessly changes, with both opportunities and challenges, he noted.

President Sang highlighted the group’s primary orientations with priority given to mobilising the highest political resolve and necessary resources for the successful building of the ASEAN Community by 2015 and the group’s further development in the next decades.

ASEAN needs to adopt a wider vision for its long-term development following the formation of the ASEAN Community, which is expected to be realised by December 31, 2015, as the event is a milestone and a starting point, he said.

The President emphasised the need for ASEAN to maintain its dynamic development momentum and uphold the strength of an economic community of 600 million people with gross domestic product of 2.1 trillion USD.

He applauded ASEAN’s efforts to expand and deepen economic, trade and investment ties, combine free trade agreements with its member countries and build a free trade agreement of the East Asian region.

“We back the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)’s targets to create an open economic space in East Asia , which makes up nearly half of the world’s population and one third of the global GDP,” he said.

In addition, ASEAN needs to continue bringing into full play its role in regional cooperation frameworks such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), he added.

President Sang said ASEAN should further promote its active role in ensuring an environment of peace, security and development in the region.

Maritime security, safety and freedom in the East Sea is an important and mutual concern of the region, he said, urging ASEAN to take an active part in building and making the best use of joint principles as stated in the Declaration on the Six-point Principles on the East Sea.

These include dialogue promotion, trust building, peaceful settlement of disputes in respect of international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the early establishment of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

Travelling with ASEAN over the past 18 years, Vietnam always defines itself as an active, proactive and responsible member that tries its best to contribute to the continuous development of ASEAN.

ASEAN will continue to be one of the important pillars in Vietnam ’s foreign policy of openness, diversification and multilateralisation of relations, and active international integration, he said.

During his stay in Indonesia, President Sang met with the country’s leading businesses that operate in the fields of aviation, oil and gas, coal, rice, property, food and pharmaceuticals.
 
He heard the Indonesian businesses’ assessment on cooperative opportunities between the two countries in an array of areas.

Many of them suggested Vietnam improve its investment environment with breakthrough measures on administrative procedures, tax and investment promotion.

The President called on the two countries’ Government agencies and business communities to collaborate with other countries and partners on the basis of mutual benefit and development of each country and the region.

Vietnam always attaches importance to and creates every favourable condition for foreign investors, he said, calling on foreign investors, including those from Indonesia , to continue expanding their operations in his country, he affirmed.

Meeting with Vietnamese Embassy staff, he urged diplomats to make greater efforts in implementing guidelines and policies of the Party and State, especially in the context of the newly-established strategic partnership between Vietnam and Indonesia.

President Sang and his entourage returned home later in the day, successfully concluding his State visit to Indonesia.-VNA