Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc left Ulan Bator for Hanoi to wrap up his official visit to Mongolia from July 13-14 and participation in the 11th Asia-Eurওope Meeting (ASEM) Summit from July 15-16.

The visit holds significant meaning since both Vietnam and Mongolia had new governments, Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son said in a press interview. It offered a good chance for the two countries’ leaders to seek to reinforce mutual trust, cement traditional friendship, and promote collaboration across sectors, particularly trade and economics, he said. The visit has opened up a new era for Vietnam-Mongolia cooperative ties and reaped specific outcomes, he noted. First and foremost, the two sides agreed to maintain high-level delegation exchanges at ministerial and sectoral levels as well as improve the efficiency of bilateral dialogue mechanisms to make it easier for across-the-board cooperation. Furthermore, they concurred to embracing economic and trade links, regarding this as a cornerstone in the bilateral cooperation in the coming time, especially in agro-forestry-fisheries, mining, oil, and garment-textile, in addition to cultural exchange, education, tourism, labour, and protection of citizens. Last but not least, the two sides reiterated continuous cooperation and mutual assistance at regional and international forum such as the United Nations (UN), ASEM, and ASEAN Regional Forum, to ensure peace, stability in the region and beyond, particularly navigation and aviation safety, security and freedom in the East Sea, and settlement of disputes via peaceful means and in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) Deputy FM Bui Thanh Son also highlighted remarkable contributions of Vietnam to ASEM 11. He said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was the first speaker among three leaders representing 53 ASEM members to deliver a speech at the 15 th Asia-Europe Business Forum and he also spoke at a plenary session on “Two Decades of Partnership: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead”. Vietnam ’s new initiative on creative education and human resource building for sustainable development received warm support from many ASEM members, the diplomat noted. Participants highly valued Vietnam ’s practical suggestions to increase ASEM cooperation in the third decade, specifically improving infrastructure, trade, finance, information technology, human resources, and sub-Mekong regional connectivity. Vietnam also recommended attaching ASEM cooperation with sustainable development goals such as poverty reduction, better social welfare policies, and response to global challenges like climate change, natural disasters, sea level rise, and saltwater intrusion. ASEM members pledged to continue coordination with Vietnam to realise her initiatives on natural disaster response and skills training for green growth in 2016, Son said. Participants shared Vietnam’s viewpoints to increase dialogues and cooperation in a constructive manner to address any disputes based on international law, without unilateral actions, threats to use or use of forces as these could raise tensions and complicate the situation. They also agreed to build trust and respect legal and diplomatic procedures in according with international law to maintain peace, security and stability in Southeast Asia, especially in the East Sea , to promote collaboration, connectivity and prosperity in Asia-Pacific and around the world, Son added. Vietnam also took an active and leading role in implementing numerous cooperation initiatives in ASEM framework over the past 20 years, he confirmed. On the fringes of the summit, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with leaders from other ASEM member countries to discuss concrete measures to enhance cooperation, he added. He concluded that ASEM is an important cooperation mechanism to promote interests, economic and security concerns among members. ASEM brought together 19 out of the 25 strategic and comprehensive partners of Vietnam, bringing 70 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI) and global trade value and 80 percent of tourists to Vietnam. Vietnam has signed and is negotiating free trade agreements with 47 out of the 50 ASEM members, he cited.-VNA