Vientiane (VNA) – Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. in Vientiane, Laos, on October 8 on the occasion of their attendance at the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related summits.
At the meeting, the two leaders expressed their delight at the strong development of the Vietnam - Philippines strategic partnership in all fields in recent times. They agreed to continue to deepen the bilateral relationship in a practical, sustainable and long-term manner, making positive contributions to a strong ASEAN Community, and for peace, stability and sustainable development in the region and the world.
Discussing the two countries’ key cooperation areas in the coming time, PM Chinh suggested that the two sides continue to effectively promote existing cooperation mechanisms, especially the Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation; promote agricultural and economic-trade cooperation to be commensurate with the potential of the two countries, further open the market for each other's goods, and increase bilateral trade turnover to 10 billion USD by 2025.
PM Chinh also proposed the two sides actively consider expanding their cooperation to new areas, serving the two countries’ strategic breakthroughs such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, Internet of Things, digital economy, green economy, energy transition, and development of electric vehicle ecosystems.
For his part, President Marcos shared his good impression of the results of his State visit to Vietnam in January, affirming that Vietnam is always an important strategic partner of the Philippines.
He agreed that the two sides should closely coordinate to implement the results of the visit as well as preparing for activities to celebrate the 10th founding anniversary of the Strategic partnership in 2025.
President Marcos also called on Vietnam to continue to support the Philippines in ensuring food security, and effectively implement the Memoranda of Understanding on agricultural cooperation and rice trade cooperation signed earlier this year.
He highly appreciated Vingroup's electric vehicle development projects in the Philippines, as well as cooperation projects between enterprises of the two countries in high-tech fields.
Regarding maritime cooperation, the two sides agreed to continue to consult and closely coordinate with each other on maritime issues, strengthen maritime cooperation, and promote the development of an effective and practical Code of Conduct (COC) in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The President affirmed that Philippine authorities will continue to treat arrested fishermen humanely in accordance with international law and the spirit of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
The two leaders also agreed to continue to support each other at international forums, especially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations./.
