Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh onNovember 2 met with President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh who is paying aState visit to Vietnam from November 1 - 5 at the invitation of President VoVan Thuong.
At the meeting, PM Chinh hailed the significance of the visit of the MongolianPresident to Vietnam when the two countries are to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations in 2024, stressing that it will take the bilateral traditionalfriendship to a new, practical and effective stage of development.
For his part, President Khurelsukh emphasised that the Mongolian Government always values thetraditional friendship between Mongolia and Vietnam, considering Vietnam its most important cooperation partner in Southeast Asia.
Host and guest expressed their pleasure about the substantial developments in cooperative relations between the two countries inrecent years, especially in the fields of politics, diplomacy, economy,defence, security, and agriculture.
Discussing specific measures to enhance cooperation across the fields, PM Chinh suggested furtherpromoting the role of the Vietnam - Mongolia Intergovernmental Committeemechanism; and result-oriented cooperation between businesses,localities, and people of the two countries.
He said the two countries should continue to boost two-way trade by opening the market to each other's goods. He asked Mongolia to create favourable conditions for Vietnam'skey agricultural and aquatic products to enter the Mongolian market, towards the goal of doubling bilateral trade turnover to 200 million USD in the comingyears.
The PM also urged the two sides to increase trade and investment promotion activities,expand cooperation in the field ofstrategic minerals and organise business connection activities.
Chinh welcomed the opening of direct flights between the two countries and the signing ofan agreement on visa exemption for ordinary passport holders between the twocountries, which create favourable conditions to promote their tourism andtrade cooperation and increase people-to-people exchanges.
Agreeing with Chinh, President Khurelsukh affirmedthat strengthening comprehensive and extensive cooperation with Vietnam is atop priority in Mongolia's foreign policy in the region.
He said Mongolia wishes to further strengthen and expandcooperation with Vietnam in the fields of politics, defence, security,economy - trade, education, science and technology, transportation,logistics, culture, sports, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges, as well asat multilateral forums and mechanisms.
Mongolia hopes the two countries will establish a newrelationship framework commensurate with the good relationship between the twocountries on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomaticrelations in 2024, he said.
In the context of the rapid, complex andunpredictable developments in the world and the region, the two sides agreed tocontinue to cooperate closely and support each other at international andregional forums of mutual interest. They shared a common perspective on ensuringsecurity, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea;maintaining a peaceful, stable environment and legal order; and resolving maritimedisputes by peaceful means in compliance with international law, including the 1982 United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982)./.