Vietnam and the Republic of Seychelles have issued a joint
statement on the occasion of President James Alix Michel’s official
visit to Vietnam from August 28-29 at the invitation of President
Truong Tan Sang.
The statement says this is second official
visit to Vietnam made by a high-ranking leader of Seychelles in
the last 33 years.
While staying in Vietnam , President
Michel held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, during which the two
leaders committed to ushering in a new stage for Vietnam-Seychelles
relationship on the basis of mutual respect, for common values and
benefits.
They expressed their hope to further enhance
linkages between Governments, businesses and people to facilitate goods
transportation between the two countries.
Both consented to
increasing the exchange of delegations at all levels in order to create
an impetus for the friendly political ties as well as economic, cultural
and social partnership between Vietnam and Seychelles .
They compared notes on the implementation of several already-signed
agreements such as the agreement on technical assistance in 1986 and the
agreement on economic, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation
in 2010.
The leaders reached consensus on the need to engage in
new agreements on political-diplomacy, trade, oil and gas, aviation,
environment, agriculture, fishery, tourism, climate change adaptation
and “green economy” research.
Applauding the signing of
cooperation agreements on diplomacy, aviation, tourism and trade, they
were unanimous in expanding bilateral trade ties for mutual benefit in
the coming time.
The two Presidents welcomed the
establishment of a regular dialogue and consultation mechanism between
the two foreign ministries.
While exchanging views on
potential for cooperation in national defence and security, they agreed
to expand mutually beneficial cooperation in capacity enhancement and
experience sharing in observing marine law and fighting cross-border
crimes such as drug smugglers and pirates.
They took note of
coordination between Vietnam and Seychelles at international
forums and discussed several international issues of common concern and
others regarding the “green economy”, sustainable development, climate
change, food security and clean energy.
The Seychelles
President voiced his hope for further cooperation with Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states to promote their mutually
beneficial partnerships.
President Sang thanked the Seychelles
Government for recognising Vietnam ’s market economic status,
describing it as an important contribution to the traditional friendship
and cooperation between the two countries.
President Michel invited President Sang to pay an official visit to
Seychelles in a near future. President Sang accepted the invitation with
pleasure.-VNA