Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong (right) and Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the use of a hotline to deal with illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing between the Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Brunei Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Brunei have issued a joint statement on theestablishment of their comprehensive partnership during the state visit toVietnam by Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah from March 26-28.
According to the document, leaders of the two countries stressed that thenewly-established comprehensive partnership will create more momentum for thebilateral multifaceted cooperation, focusing on politics, nationaldefence-security, trade-investment, energy, education-social affairs,people-to-people exchange, and other spheres of shared concern, as well ascollaboration within multilateral frameworks.
They witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the use ofa hotline to deal with illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishingbetween the Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and theBrunei Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism.
The two sides shared the view of the significance of maintaining all-leveldelegations, including the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation, to seekcollaboration opportunities for common interests, while further enhancing thepartnership and trust between the two countries.
Theyspoke of marked progress in defence affiliation and agreed to seek morespecific cooperation opportunities between defence forces of the two countries,covering information sharing, the exchange of high-level official visits, andthe establishment of consultation mechanisms.
Both sides consented to closely coordinate and support each other atmultilateral defence forums, particularly within the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN), such as the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) andADMM , as well as the ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces’ Meeting (ACDFM), and theASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
They concurred to step up cooperation to facilitate and promote bilateral tradein a more balanced and sustainable manner, towards the target of 500 millionUSD by 2025.
They noted with pleasure the bilateral investment ties and reiterated theirstrong support for increased bilateral investment, especially in governmentprocurement, public services, infrastructure development, fisheries, foodprocessing, manufacturing, and energy.
Both leaders hailed labour cooperation between the two countries, and directedthe Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalid, and Social Affairs and the BruneiMinistry of Home Affairs to enhance collaboration in the field for the benefitsof both sides.
They shared views on a line-up of regional and international, and reached aconsensus on close coordination to handle global and regional challenges,including trans-national crimes, climate change, natural disasters, sustainabledevelopment, and food-water-energy security.
They expressed their delight over the sound cooperation at regional andinternational forums, such as the ASEAN and its mechanisms, Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the United Nations(UN).
Vietnam thanked Brunei for endorsing the country to become a non-permanentmember of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure.
Both leaders reaffirmed mutual support and close cooperation as the two countriesare due to take on the rotary role of the ASEAN Chair in 2020 and 2021. Theyunderlined support for open, transparent, inclusive, and rule-based regionalarchitecture with ASEAN at centre.
They also laid stress on the significance of maintaining and promoting peace,security, stability, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in theEast Sea. Mutual trust must be enhanced among competent countries, while alldisputes must be peacefully settled based on international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Lawof the Sea (1982 UNCLOS).
All parties need to demilitarise and exercise self-restraint when operatingactivities which could increase tensions in the East Sea, they said.
They emphasised that they support the full and effective implementation of theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), while welcomingadvancements in ASEAN-China cooperation as well as in practical negotiations tofinalise a code of conduct in the East Sea (COC).
They committed cooperation towards maintaining an open, inclusive, and rule-basedtrade system, as well as completing a comprehensive Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP) that will secure benefits for related nations in2019. –VNA
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