Hanoi (VNA) – State President To Lam held talks with visiting President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta in Hanoi on August 1, during which the leaders sought measures to further promote all-round cooperation between the two countries.
Lam underlined that the visit, the third by Ramos-Horta to Vietnam, including two as the President of Timor-Leste, will create new momentum for collaboration between the two countries.
The Vietnamese leader congratulated Timor-Leste for its socio-economic achievements, expressing his wish that the country will successful realise its plan on national strategic development in the 2011-2030 period, helping it integrate more deeply into the world and making positive contributions to peace, prosperity, and development in the region.
Ramos-Horta expressed his admiration for the revolutionary career as well as national construction and development of Vietnamese leaders and people, describing Vietnam as a model of development.
He affirmed that Timor-Leste attaches great importance to and hopes to further bolster the sound friendship with Vietnam. He took the occasion to once again express his deep condolences over the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
The two sides shared their delight at remarkable progress in bilateral relations, with the maintenance of high-level exchanges and meetings, encouraging economic cooperation and rising two-way trade to expectedly higher than last year’s figure of 15.9 million USD. Vietnam’s Viettel telecommunications firm is operating effectively in Timor-Leste under the brand of Telemor, contributing to local socio-economic development, they noted.
The two leaders agreed to increase exchanges and meetings at high and all levels in the coming time, while efficiently implementing the Framework Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation, working for the early organisation of the first meeting of the Vietnam – Timor-Leste Joint Committee at the Foreign Minister level, and considering establishing new bilateral mechanisms suitable to the cooperation demands of the two countries.
Lam affirmed that Vietnam is willing to supply rice to Temor-Leste, contributing to helping the country ensure food security. He suggested that the two sides extend or sign a new memorandum of understanding on rice trade, and encouraged Timor-Leste to import high quality products of Vietnam such as garments and textiles, footwear, beverages, dairy foods, processed foods, agricultural and aquatic products. The Vietnamese President proposed that Timor-Leste ratify the bilateral trade agreement signed in 2013 with Vietnam, creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to expand their operations and investment in the country.
Ramos-Horta concurred to coordinate closely with Vietnam to create new changes in economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, expanding collaboration in promising areas such as agriculture, fisheries, exploiting and processing forest resources, mineral resources and metal ores and non-ferrous metals.
Temor-Leste supports Vietnam’s proposals in cooperation, grasping and taking advantage of new trends for development, he said, expressing his hope that Vietnam will continue sharing experience and assisting Timor-Leste in human resources development, food security ensuring, and poverty reduction.
The two leaders agreed to efficiently promote the cooperation potential in other important areas, especially agriculture, fisheries, telecommunications, education, oil and gas, infrastructure construction, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchange.
Discussing regional and international issues of shared concern, the two sides concurred to continue to cooperate with and support each other at international and regional organisations. Lam highly evaluated the determination and efforts by Timor-Lester in realising the roadmap to become a full member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), affirming Vietnam’s support to Timor-Leste’s full ASEAN membership at an early date.
Ramos-Horta affirmed that his country totally supports Vietnam’s candidacies at multilateral mechanisms, including the UN Security Council, UN Human Rights Council, and other international organisations.
Regarding the East Sea issue, the two sides committed to continuing to support the upholding of the law in maintaining peace, stability and ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea, as well as the settling of disputes through peaceful measures in line with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the serious, full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and the negotiations of a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC), contributing to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region.
Following the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of an agreement on bilateral visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders.
On the occasion, Ramos-Horta invited Lam to visit Timor-Leste. The latter accepted the invitation and promised to arrange the visit at a suitable time.
Earlier, the Timor-Leste President and his entourage paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at the late leader’s mausoleum, and laid a wreath at the monument to war heroes and martyrs on Bac Son street in Hanoi./.
