The Sultan, at the request of Minister Minh, decided to free nine Vietnamese fishermen, who have been detained since Jan. 20.
The Sultan acknowledged the important achievements of the Vietnamesepeople in their doi moi (renewal) process and expressed his appreciationfor the multi-faceted friendship between the two countries, noting thatthe two sides needed to enhance cooperation in the coming time formutual benefit.
He praised Vietnamese guest workers inBrunei , saying that the country would like to receive more workers fromVietnam . He also confirmed that Brunei will import rice fromVietnam .
Minister Minh said that Vietnam alwaystreasures the friendly neighbouring relations with other ASEANcountries, including Brunei .
The same day, Minh andhis Brunei counterpart agreed to celebrate the 20 th anniversary ofthe establishment of diplomatic relations on Feb. 29 and to enhance theexchange of high-level delegations.
The two ministersagreed to organise the first session of the Vietnam-Brunei JointCommission, hosted by Vietnam, in order to review and set plans forfuture cooperation.
In 2011, trade turnover betweenVietnam and Brunei exceeded 200 million USD, which was 10 timeshigher than the previous year.
The two ministers promisedto continue creating favourable conditions for enterprises from theircountries to search business opportunities in the country.
They also discussed other fields with potential for cooperation such aslabour, oil and gas, agriculture and fisheries, and tourism. Theyagreed to establish a suitable framework to solve all issues of boatsand fishermen who enter the other’s territorial waters to match the twocountries’ laws and maintain friendly ties.
As for theEast Sea issue, the two sides affirmed the neccessity to ensure peace,stability, security and free navigation in the East Sea and to solvedisputes by peaceful measures and obedience to international laws,especially the UN’s 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), advancingtowards the building of the Code of Conduct (COC).
The Vietnamese minister said that Vietnam will support and coordinate with Brunei on its chair of ASEAN in 2013.
The two sides also agreed to work together to build a strong and unitedASEAN community in 2015. They promised to work with other partners tomake the Trans-Pacific Partnership benefit each member and contribute tothe growth and prosperity of all countries in the region./.