Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on April 24 met with Sultan of Brunei
Haji Hassanal Bolkiah in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei, on
his visit to the country to attend the 22nd ASEAN Summit.
The two leaders highly valued the fine development of friendship and
multifaceted cooperation between the two countries over the past time,
as well as the exchange of high-level meetings.
Dung congratulated Brunei on undertaking the 2013 ASEAN Chair and
highly valued its ties with the country. Brunei has so far invested in
192 projects worth nearly 4.9 billion USD, ranking 12th of the
countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Two-way trade hit
600 million USD last year, tripling that of 2011.
PM Dung also suggested the two sides speed up negotiations and promptly
sign memoranda of understanding on agriculture, fishery and labour
cooperation, and an agreement to encourage and protect investment.
He thanked the Brunei Government for receiving and creating all
possible favourable conditions for Vietnamese workers in the country.
The two sides pledged to further strengthen mutual
trust, understanding and the exchange of high-level delegations between
the two nations’ ministries and departments.
The
two nations will promote links in economics, trade and investment to tap
each side’s potential, meeting the aspirations of the two peoples.
The Brunei Sultan vowed to facilitate links in oil and gas, fisheries and agriculture with Vietnam.
Regarding regional and international issues, the two leaders agreed to
increase exchanges and consultations on issues of common concern,
support each other at regional and international forums, particularly
within ASEAN.
The two sides pledged to closely
coordinate with each other and with other ASEAN members in order to
maintain solidarity, uphold ASEAN’s central role in the regional
processes and speed up the building of an ASEAN Community by 2015.
The two sides emphasised the need to ensure peace, stability, maritime
security and safety in the East Sea; settle any disputes by peaceful
means on the basic of respecting international law, particularly the
1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; as well as promote
ASEAN’s Declaration on the Six-Point Principles and soon formulate a
Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
The
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN,
comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.-VNA