Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmalek Sellal, said during their talks in Algiers on June 1 that they were determined to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

The Algerian PM welcomed the Vietnamese leader’s visit, saying it highlighted the traditional friendship between the two countries. He also praised Vietnam’s socio- economic development and expressed the hope that the two countries would continue to cooperate and support each other.

“Algeria has always supported Vietnam when support was needed and vice versa. The two countries will continue to foster friendship and further our cooperation in the future”, he said.

Vietnam always considers Algeria a close and long-time friend, PM Dung responded, stressing that there was a lot of room for improvement in bilateral cooperation.

The two leaders agreed that measures would have to be taken to increase bilateral trade from 250 million USD to 1 billion USD in the near future by boosting cooperation in heavy and light industries, agriculture, mining, textile, finance and banking as well as other sectors.

PM Sellal said Algeria welcomed Vietnamese enterprises to invest in its petroleum, housing and industrial sectors. Vietnamese enterprises would receive the best possible support for their operations in the country, he pledged.

PM Dung said Vietnam supported Algeria’s effort to join the World Trade Organisation and was willing to work together with the country to widen the scope of bilateral cooperation in education, cultural exchange, judiciary as well as defence and security matters.

The Algerian PM reiterated his country’s stance on the East Sea issue, saying disputes should be settled peacefully through negotiations and in line with international law, and his country was ready to contribute to the process.

At the end of their meeting, the two leaders attended the signing of bilateral cooperation agreements on tourism, culture and healthcare.-VNA