Prime Minister holds talks with Sultan of Brunei

PM Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah (Photo: VNA)

Bandar Seri Begawan (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah right after meeting with members of the House of Bolkiah in Bandar Seri Begawan capital on February 11 morning.

Sultan Bolkiah affirmed that Brunei always treasures and wishes to keep developing its partnership with Vietnam, especially in economy, trade, investment, education and agriculture.

PM Chinh, for his part, conveyed the Vietnamese leaders’ regards to the Brunei Sultan and royal family. He underlined Vietnam’s consistent policy of valuing the development of comprehensive partnership with Brunei.

He expressed his belief that Brunei will soon realise the Brunei Vision 2035 (Wawasan Brunei 2035), becoming an economy with dynamic and sustainable development.

Both leaders spoke highly of the effective development of bilateral comprehensive partnership in various areas, from politics, national defence-security to economy, trade, investment, maritime cooperation, energy and education-training. In particular, two-way trade soared by 134% annually to 725.8 million USD last year.

In the near future, both sides will continue facilitating all-level visits, effectively implement the ministerial-level Bilateral Cooperation Committee and important cooperation agreements, especially the Action Plan on the implementation of Vietnam-Brunei comprehensive partnership for the 2023-2027 period, which was signed on the occasion.

They pledged to boost trade growth in a more diverse and balanced direction, consider the possibility of establishing a joint venture on the exploitation, cultivation and processing of aquatic products, as well as seek opportunities in new cooperation areas such as digital economy, circular economy and climate change response.

PM Chinh suggested Brunei create favourable conditions for Vietnamese goods to enter the country, particularly rice and farm produce meeting Halal standards. He also committed all possible support for Brunei enterprises to do business in Vietnam.

He also proposed increased coordination to connect the two economies together to build them into independent and self-reliant economies that widely and effectively integrate into the world.

Host and guest vowed to enhance collaboration in other important realms such as national defence-security and maritime activities, including maintaining the effectiveness of the hotline to support fisheries activities and share information on law enforcement at sea. They will also boost ties in education-training, tourism and connectivity as well as increase the frequency of direct commercial flights.

On regional and global issues, they promised to continue with close coordination at regional and global forums, maintain solidarity and uphold the central role of ASEAN.

They reaffirmed the importance of peace, stability, safety, security and freedom of navigation in the East Sea; jointly maintain ASEAN's solidarity and common stance on the East Sea issue, and strive for progress in negotiating a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

On the occasion, PM Chinh invited the Brunei Sultan and Queen to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time. The host accepted his invitation with pleasure and wished to visit Vietnam soon.

Concluding the talks, the leaders witnessed the signing and exchange of the Action Plan on the implementation of Vietnam-Brunei comprehensive partnership for the 2023-2027 period and a diplomatic note on visa waiver for diplomatic and official passport holders between Vietnam and Brunei./.