Presidents Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and Joko Widodo at the welcome ceremony for the Vietnamese leader in Bogor city, West Java province, on December 22 (Photo: VNA) The trip, made at theinvitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo from December 21 to 23, heldgreat significance as it marks a new milestone in the Vietnam - Indonesia strategicpartnership, helping consolidate the political foundation and giving a newimpetus to bilateral cooperation in all fields, the Foreign Minister told media.
It obtained comprehensive, substantive, and concreteoutcomes, especially in important areas, he noted, elaborating that leaders of thetwo countries reached high consensus on enhancing political trust throughfrequent meetings and mutual visits at all levels, promoting ties in allaspects and effectively carrying out the signed agreements, toward building an actionplan for the implementation of the strategic partnership for 2024 - 2028.
The two sides signed and exchanged important cooperationagreements on fighting terrorism; combating the trafficking of drugs,psychoactive substances, and precursor substances; and the energy and mineralresource sectors.
The two Presidents highly valued their countries’completion of negotiations on the delimitation of exclusive economic zones inline with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Lawof the Sea (UNCLOS), Son said.
Another notable outcome was that bilateral economic, trade,and investment ties were given more momentum as both sides affirmed theirdetermination to boost balanced and sustainable trade growth and raise the revenueto 15 billion USD or higher by 2028.
Bilateral trade increased strongly to approximate 13 billionUSD in the first 11 months of 2022, the highest level so far, compared to the11.5 billion USD recorded in the whole 2021.
President Phuc asked Indonesia to remove trade barriers andtrade remedies against Vietnamese goods, further open its market to Vietnameseexports, and cooperate to develop the Halal industry.
The two sides agreed to facilitate Vietnamese andIndonesian enterprises’ investment in new and potential areas such as digitaleconomy, digital transformation, renewable energy, and sustainable development.
They affirmed the continuation of close cooperation in otherimportant fields, particularly defence, security, maritime cooperation, andconnectivity between the countries’ peoples, localities, and businesses,according to the Foreign Minister.
In addition, the Vietnamese and Indonesian leadersstraightforwardly exchanged views on regional and international issues ofcommon concern, including the East Sea issue.
They agreed on major orientations for reinforcingcoordination at regional and international forums, especially the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations, and fosteringsub-regional connectivity and cooperation within ASEAN to help guarantee energyand food security.
President Phuc underlined Vietnam’s support for Indonesia’schairmanship of ASEAN in 2023 so as to promote the bloc’s solidarity and centrality.
With the abovementioned achievements, the visit has opened up newopportunities for bilateral cooperation and demonstrated the leaders’determination to develop the Vietnam - Indonesia strategic partnership to a newheight, thereby generating practical benefits for the two peoples andcontributing to a united and self-reliant ASEAN Community for peace, stability,cooperation, and development in the region and the world at large, FM Sonadded./.
VNA
