The following is the full text of the joint statement:
“At the invitation of His Excellency Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Ministerof Vietnam, His Excellency Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister ofMalaysia and Madam Rosmah Mansor paid an official visit toVietnam from April 3 to 5, 2014. This is the first visit to Vietnamby His Excellency Najib Tun Abdul Razak in his capacity as the PrimeMinister of Malaysia.
During the visit in Hanoi, Prime MinisterNajib Tun Abdul Razak attended the official welcome ceremony, held abilateral meeting and attended the reception hosted by Prime MinisterNguyen Tan Dung; paid courtesy calls on His Excellency Nguyen PhuTrong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and HisExcellency Truong Tan Sang, President of the Socialist Republic ofVietnam; visited a Malaysia investment project. Prime Minister Najib TunRazak also met with the Malaysian community in Hanoi andhad a meeting with the Vietnamese and Malaysian businesscommunity.
During the official talks, Leaders of the twocountries informed each other of the socio-economic development in eachrespective country, discussed ways to further elevate relations for acomprehensive partnership between the two countries, regional andinternational issues of common interest. They highlighted thesignificance of this visit and noted with satisfaction the sounddevelopment of the comprehensive partnership between the two countriesin all areas over the last 40 years since the establishment ofdiplomatic relations. They reaffirmed the commitment to intensify thecomprehensive partnership in all areas in the coming years toward theestablishment of a strategic partnership, in the interest of the twopeoples, for peace, cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacificregion and the world.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razaktook this opportunity to express his heartfelt gratitude andappreciation to Vietnam ’s assistance during the early days ofSAR operation in locating the missing aircraft MH370 of MalaysiaAirlines. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak also highly valued Vietnam’s immediate action by deploying of its assets and sharing relevantinformation pertaining to the missing aircraft. Prime Minister NajibTun Razak emphasized that Malaysia ’s prime intention was to findthe missing aircraft and would never abandon its efforts untilthe aircraft had been found. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dungexpressed his deep sympathies and condolences to Prime Minister NajibTun Abdul Razak, the people of Malaysia and the bereaved families ofthe victims of flight MH370.
Prime Minister Najib TunAbdul Razak congratulated the Vietnamese people on the importantachievements recorded in the course of reform and national development,expressed his confidence that Vietnam would successfully implement its2011 – 2020 Socio-economic Development Strategy. Prime Minister NguyenTan Dung highly valued the achievements attained by the people ofMalaysia in the cause of nation- building and development, expressedconviction that under the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Tun AbdulRazak, Malaysia would rapidly achieve the goals set forth in “Vision2020”.
Regarding Vietnam-Malaysia relations, the two sidesagreed to continue to increase regular exchange s of high-levelvisits and contacts at all levels, promote cooperation in all areasand people-to-people exchanges, soon organize the fifth Session ofthe Joint Commission on Economic, Scientific and TechnologicalCooperation with a view to further broadening and deepening bilateralcooperation in these areas.-VNA
Both sides agreed to intensifydefense and security cooperation, including the proposal to establisha Joint Committee on bilateral defence relations, which is inline with the Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral DefenceCooperation signed in August 2008, as well as the establishmentof 'hotline' between the two navies. Both sides also agreed toexpedite the signing of the MOU on Prevention and Combat ofTransnational Crimes.
Both sides expressedsatisfaction over the strong increase of the bilateral trade turnover,agreed to increase trade volume to 11 billion USD before 2015,and considered the possibility of signing an MOU between the twoGovernments on rice trade to facilitate stable and long-term cooperationin this field. Both sides reaffirmed commitments in maintainingfavorable conditions for investors of both sides to explore business andinvestment opportunities in each country .
The two Leaderswitnessed the signing of the MOU on Agricultural Cooperation betweenVietnam and Malaysia and applauded the MOU’s significance inaccelerating agriculture cooperation between the two countries.
The two Leaders agreed on the strengthening of bilateral cooperationon labour matters and tasked relevant agencies to review the MOU onThe Recruitment of Vietnamese Workers. The two Leaders alsoencouraged the enhancement and expansion of, among others, cooperationin other potential areas including energy, transportation, education,tourism, legislation, justice, etc.
With regard toregional and international issues, the Leaders of the two countriesagreed to maintain close cooperation and coordination in regional andinternational forums, particularly ASEAN and the United Nations, and towork together with other ASEAN member countries to build a resilient andunited ASEAN Community by 2015. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dungreaffirmed Vietnam ’s commitment to do its utmost to coordinate withand support Malaysia ’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2015.
The two Leaders exchanged views on the recent developments in the EastSea and reaffirmed the importance of upholding ASEAN’s unity andcentrality in the maintenance of peace and stability, maritime security,freedom of navigation in and over flight above the East Sea . Thetwo Leaders called on all parties concerned to resolve their disputesthrough peaceful means in accordance with universally recognisedprinciples of international law, including the 1982 United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and to avoid resorting toforce or the threat of the use of force and to undertake self-restraintin the conduct of activities. The Leaders urged for the full andeffective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties inthe East Sea (DOC), the ASEAN 6-point Principles on the East Seaand expedited efforts towards the establishment of the Code of Conductin the East Sea (COC).
Regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP), the two sides agreed to intensify cooperation toward s theearly conclusion of TPP negotiations , while ensuring flexibility,appropriate transition, technical support and capacity - building fordeveloping countries .
Prime Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razakand Madam expressed deep gratitude to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung andMadam, the Government and people of Vietnam for the warm welcomeand generous hospitality extended to the Malaysian delegation. PrimeMinister Najib Tun Razak invited Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung andMadam to pay an official visit to Malaysia at a convenient time.Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung accepted the invitation with pleasure.The time for the visit will be arranged through diplomatic channels.