Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam and Indonesia are looking to promote political anddiplomatic relations, towards further deepening their strategic partnershipthat enjoyed great achievements over the last five years, Vietnamese Ambassadorto Indonesia Pham Vinh Quang has said.

In a recent interview granted to Indonesia-based Vietnam News Agency’scorrespondents, Ambassador Quang highlighted common points in the two countries'foreign policies and pointed out what the two sides need to do in order to lifttheir bilateral relations.

Hestressed the necessity to form new cooperation mechanisms, including expanding theexchange of visits at the deputy defence minister level and accelerating thesigning of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) and cooperative agreements betweentheir naval and coastal guard forces; as well as to strengthen bonds between Vietnam’sMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Indonesia’s Ministry of MaritimeAffaires and Fisheries.

Overthe last five years, besides visits by high-ranking leaders of the twocountries, their Foreign Ministers also regularly visit each other and conductregular meetings of the Bilateral Cooperation Committee at the foreign ministerial level.

Thetwo sides also have a cooperative mechanism within the JointCommittee on Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation.Cooperation has been also established among their ministries and sectors acrossthe fields from defence, security to culture, tourism and people-to-peopleexchange.

Two-waytrade between Vietnam and Indonesia recorded a sudden expansion, increasingfourfolds in the 2012-2017 period with an annual average growth of 6.5 percent.In 2017, their trade hit 6.7 billion USD, representing a year-on-year increaseof 16 percent.

In the coming time, Vietnam will take concrete measures to lift the bilateral tradeturnover to 10 billion per year, while working with Indonesia toremove barriers and create favorable conditions for Vietnam's farm produce to enterthe Indonesian market.

The two sides are also seeking to promote and increase investment in each country,focusing on infrastructure development.

Vietnam has experience in hydropower plant construction, while Indonesia islacking in energy.

Vietnamcan also send its labourers to Indonesia to carry out large projects, Quangsaid, adding that the two countries have potential to foster tourism andeducation link, and culture exchange.

The diplomat also highlighted the significance of the upcoming State visit byIndonesian President Joko Widodo to Vietnam in September and his attendance atthe World Economic Forum 2018, saying that it aims to review achievements ofthe strategic partnership reached during the last five years and define newcooperation orientations and action coordination in the political anddiplomatic fields.

The two countries have planned to sign an Action Plan for the next five years,aiming to make the bilateral relations stronger in the context that theirrelationship is enjoying many opportunities and also facing challenges.

In the context of complicated regional developments, Vietnam and Indonesiashare common views not only on regional security but also at different forums,the ambassador noted, stressing that these are opportunities for the two sidesto enhance action coordination.

Accordingto the diplomat, Vietnam and Indonesia can work together in the United NationsSecurity Council. In 2018, Indonesia has been elected as a member of the UNSecurity Council and since early 2019 will assume the role of a non-permanentmember of the UN Security Council. Vietnam is also likely to become anon-permanent member of the UN Security Council one year later , so both countrieswill have many opportunities to work together.

Indonesia leads in ASEAN in some areas, and Vietnam is also actively promotinglinks within the cooperation mechanism, with their common goal of enhancingsolidarity among ASEAN member nations and increasing the bloc’s contributionsto maintaining peace and security in the region and the world, including EastSea-related issues.

Vietnam and Indonesia shared a common view of peacefully settlingthe disputes in the East Sea in line with legal process and with respect to international law,including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS) in 1982,Quang noted.

The two sides may cooperate at other multilateral forums which both Vietnam andIndonesia are members, he said.

According to the diplomat, the two countries can also work together on a numberof negotiation process to promote trade liberalization.

Quang, however, pointed outa fact that there are some issues that need to be resolved, including thoseconcerning fishermen.

The two sides have agreed that there are no major differences or contradictionsin this regard, he said, noting that Vietnam and Indonesia have made progress inthe work as the two countries signed an agreement on the demarcation of continental shelf in 2003.

This is an important step and nowthe two countries are continuing negotiations onthe demarcation of the exclusive economic zones to ensure that both sides can effectively exploit marine resources, Quangsaid.

Regarding the fisherman-related work, Indonesia and Vietnam agreed on the basisof cooperation and humanitarian treatment in the spirit of the long-lasting friendshipbetween the two countries, he added. -VNA