PM Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah (Photo: VNA) Bandar Seri Begawan (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with Sultan ofBrunei Hassanal Bolkiah right after meeting with members of the House of Bolkiah in Bandar Seri Begawan capital onFebruary 11 morning.
Sultan Bolkiahaffirmed that Brunei always treasures and wishes to keep developing its partnershipwith Vietnam, especially in economy, trade, investment, education andagriculture.
PM Chinh, for his part, conveyed the Vietnamese leaders’ regardsto the Brunei Sultan and royal family. He underlined Vietnam’s consistent policy ofvaluing the development of comprehensive partnership with Brunei.
He expressed his belief that Brunei will soon realise the BruneiVision 2035 (Wawasan Brunei 2035), becoming an economy with dynamic and sustainable development.
Both leaders spoke highly of the effective development ofbilateral comprehensive partnership in various areas, from politics, nationaldefence-security to economy, trade, investment, maritime cooperation, energyand education-training. In particular, two-way trade soared by 134% annually to725.8 million USD last year.
In the near future, both sides will continue facilitatingall-level visits, effectively implement the ministerial-level Bilateral CooperationCommittee and important cooperation agreements, especially the Action Plan onthe implementation of Vietnam-Brunei comprehensive partnership for the2023-2027 period, which was signed on the occasion.
They pledged to boost trade growth in a more diverse andbalanced direction, consider the possibility of establishing a joint venture onthe exploitation, cultivation and processing of aquatic products, as well asseek opportunities in new cooperation areas such as digital economy, circulareconomy and climate change response.
PM Chinh suggested Brunei create favourable conditions forVietnamese goods to enter the country, particularly rice and farm produce meetingHalal standards. He also committed all possible support for Brunei enterprisesto do business in Vietnam.
He also proposed increased coordination to connect the two economiestogether to build them into independent and self-reliant economies that widely andeffectively integrate into the world.
Host and guest vowed to enhance collaboration in other importantrealms such as national defence-security and maritime activities, includingmaintaining the effectiveness of the hotline to support fisheries activitiesand share information on law enforcement at sea. They will also boost ties in education-training, tourism and connectivity as well as increase the frequency of direct commercial flights.
On regional and global issues, they promised to continue withclose coordination at regional and global forums, maintain solidarity and uphold thecentral role of ASEAN.
They reaffirmed the importance of peace, stability, safety,security and freedom of navigation in the East Sea; jointly maintain ASEAN'ssolidarity and common stance on the East Sea issue, and strive for progress innegotiating a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
On the occasion, PM Chinh invited the Brunei Sultan and Queen tovisit Vietnam at an appropriate time. The host accepted his invitation with pleasureand wished to visit Vietnam soon.
Concluding the talks, the leaders witnessed the signing andexchange of the Action Plan on the implementation of Vietnam-Bruneicomprehensive partnership for the 2023-2027 period and a diplomatic note on visawaiver for diplomatic and official passport holders between Vietnam andBrunei./.
