Standing Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Standing Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui ThanhSon paid working visits to Singapore and India from June 21-22 to step upcooperative ties with the two countries.
In Singapore, the Vietnamese official met with Senior Minister of State for theMinistry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohamad Bin Osman.
They applauded strong development of the strategic partnership, saying PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s official visit to the country in April helpedincrease mutual trust and create a new impetus for the bilateral ties.
They agreed to enhance coordination to organise activities to mark the 45th anniversary of the diplomatic relations, step up security and defencecooperation, and further cooperation in regional issues and at multilateralforums.
The officials stressed the need to accelerate the ASEAN Community building in2018 when Singapore takes on the ASEAN chairmanship.
Also, both sides were unanimous to foster collaboration in the fields ofeconomy, trade, investment, tourism, science-technology, andeducation-training.
They will work to encourage Singaporean businesses to pump investment intoindustry, renewable energy, smart city, digital economy, and startup inVietnam.
While in New Delhi, Son and his Indian hosts, including Minister of Commerceand Industry Suresh Prabhu, Minister of State for External Affairs Vijay KumaSingh, and Deputy National Security Advisor Rajilder Khanna, said that thecomprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations is built on thetraditional friendship and mutual trust.
Both sides reached consensus on translating agreements reached during thevisits of President Tran Dai Quang and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to theSouthern Asian nation earlier this year.
They consented to promote collaboration in defence and security and supporteach other in regional and international matters as well as at multilateralforums like the UN, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and ASEAN-India dialogue.
As two-way trade has developed rapidly with the revenue of 7.6 billion USD recordedin 2017, they agreed to work to lift the value to 15 billion USD by 2020.
They said that Indian firms are encouraged to expand operation in Vietnam inthe fields of energy, infrastructure, education, and information andtechnology. -VNA
VNA
