Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) meets with Japanese Foreign Ministers Taro Kono in Singapore on August 2 (Photo: VNA) Singapore (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister and ForeignMinister Pham Binh Minh had separate meetings with Foreign Ministers Taro Konoof Japan and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran on August 2.
The events took place on the sidelines of the51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meeting in Singapore.
Talking to Taro Kono, Deputy PM Minh thanked theJapanese Foreign Ministry for its coordination to successfully organiseVietnamese leaders’ trips to Japan recently, especially a State visit byPresident Tran Dai Quang. He and the Japanese official agreed that the twosides will continue working closely to realise the outcomes of thosehigh-ranking visits.
He noted as the coordinator of ASEAN-Japanrelations from this August, Vietnam will strongly work with the Northeast Asiannation to promote the substantive and effective development of ASEAN-Japanties.
Minister Kono thanked leaders of the VietnameseParty and State for expressing sympathies on Japanese people’s losses in recentnatural disasters. He stressed that the Mekong-Japan Summit, slated for Octoberthis year, will help promote cooperation and people-to-people exchange in theregion.
In terms of regional issues, the officialsvoiced concerns about the complex developments in the East Sea, underlining theimportance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom ofnavigation and aviation in the East Sea, as well as denuclearising the Korean Peninsula.
Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Singapore on August 2 (Photo: VNA) At his meeting with the Iranian ForeignMinister, Deputy PM Minh affirmed that Vietnam treasures the time-testedfriendship with Iran, asking both sides to work together more closely to carryout the outcomes of recent high-level visits.
He also called on Iran to create more favourableconditions for major enterprises of Vietnam like Viettel and PetroVietnam toinvest and do business in the country.
At the meeting, the two sides also agreed tostrengthen partnership in energy, oil and gas, and banking to help soon raisebilateral trade to 2 billion USD. –VNA
VNA
