President Tran Dai Quang (R) and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet Jeria (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – President Tran Dai Quangand Chilean President MichelleBachelet Jeria discussed orientations and measures to enhance friendshipand comprehensive cooperation between the two countries during their talks inHanoi on November 9.
The talks took place following a welcome ceremony for Chile’s PresidentMichelle Bachelet Jeria who is on a State visit to Vietnam from November 8-9.
President Quang spoke highly of the Chilean Government’s close coordination andactive support for Vietnam’s hosting Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)2017 as well as the organisation of the ongoing APEC Economic Leaders’ Week incentral Da Nang city.
“Vietnam attaches importance and wishes to deepen the comprehensive partnershipwith Chile,” he stressed.
President Bachelet extended her deep sympathy to Vietnamese leaders and peopleover great human and property losses caused by recent typhoon Damrey, downpoursand floods in Vietnam’s central region.
She noted that Chile considers Vietnam an important partner in Asia-Pacific,and congratulated the country on its contributions to APEC development throughhosting APEC 2017.
The two leaders commented on the fruitful comprehensive partnership over thepast years across fields, ranging from politics to trade, which has grown from30-40 percent annually since the Vietnam-Chile Free Trade Agreement took effecton January 1, 2014. In 2016, bilateral trade value reached 1.1 billion USD,increasing more than two times over 2013. In the first nine months of thisyear, the figure was close to 960 million USD, up 29 percent against the sameperiod last year.
President Quang used the occasion to thank the Chilean Government forsupporting Vietnam’s candidacy to the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.
Host and guest agreed to maintain the exchange of delegations at levels among sectors,localities and businesses, and such mechanisms as the bilateral free tradecouncil and political consultation at the deputy foreign ministerial level.
The two countries will also work to complete a legal framework for bilateralcooperation and create the best possible conditions for their businesses toaccess the respective markets.
At the same time, they will establish trade and investment ties in agro-fisheryproduction and processing, high-tech agriculture, mining, bio-technology andclimate change response, while facilitating export and import of farm produce.
They consented to step up collaboration in culture, science-technology,education-training, tourism and other spheres.
Vietnam and Chile agreed to boost their collaboration at internationalorganisations multilateral forums, especially the UN, the World TradeOrganisation (WTO), APEC, negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreementand the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), along with promotingcooperation between ASEAN and the Pacific Alliance (AP) in an effective andpragmatic manner.
Talking about regional and international issues of shared concern, the twoPresidents noted their support for settling sovereignty and territorialdisputes by peaceful measures on the basis of respect for international law,particularly the UN Charter and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Lawof the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as diplomatic and legal processes.
President Bachelet invited President Quang to pay a State visit to Chile in thetime ahead. The Vietnamese President accepted the invitation with pleasure.
Following their talks, the two Presidents signed the Vietnam-Chile jointstatement and witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation agreements,including a Governmental-level memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperationin caring children and adolescents who are Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims inVietnam; an agreement on income activities for relatives of diplomats andemployees of consulates, representative offices and internationalorganisations; and a MoU on cooperation between the two countries’ academies ofdiplomacy.
They then met with the press to inform outcomes of their talks.
Also on November 9, President Quang hosted a banquet in Hanoi for PresidentBachelet and her entourage.-VNA
VNA
