Naypyidaw (VNA) – Vietnam’s Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong andPresident of Myanmar Htin Kyaw agreed to establish the bilateral comprehensivecooperative partnership during their talks in Naypyidaw, the capital city ofMyanmar, on August 24. 

PresidentHtin Kyaw stressed that Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit is animportant historic milestone and will open up a new chapter in the two countries’ties.

Meanwhile, Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong noted that the visit will offer the twosides to outline strategic orientations to create a new hallmark, a new heightand a new impetus for the bilateral ties across sectors.

Theyexpressed their delight to see the Vietnam-Myanmar ties growing across diverseareas, especially since former Party General Secretary Do Muoi’s visit in 1997.Two-way trade hit 548.3 million USD, exceeding the set target of 500 millionUSD. Vietnam has become the ninth largest trade partner and the seventh largestforeign investor of Myanmar.

Bothsides agreed on major orientations to lifting bilateral ties to a greaterheight by intensifying political links at all levels, especially at the highestlevel while continuing to strengthen bilateral relations on the Party,Government, National Assembly, sector and local channels.

Furtherattention will be paid to people-to-people exchange, especially young leadersand people.

Onnational defence-security, they pledged to soon establish the national defencepolicy dialogue mechanism at the deputy ministerial and vice chief of thegeneral staff levels and the Joint Working Group mechanism at the head of theexternal relation agency level.

Thetwo countries will reinforce joint work in defence industry, army medicaltraining, sharing of information, consultation and mutual support at bilateralforums, especially within the framework of the ASEAN Defence MinisterialMeeting (ADMM) and the ADMM Plus.

Theyvowed to not allow any individuals or organisations to make use of thiscountry’s territory to sabotage the other country.

Regarding economic cooperation, the two sides proposedpromoting the current development momentum and actively supporting each otherto host trade and investment promotion activities to increase trade value. 

They suggested focusing on cooperation inbanking, finance, aviation, telecommunication, and other supplementary fieldssuch as mining, agro-forestry-fisheries, tourism, and consumer products.

It is also necessary to increase exchanges andshare experience in economic management, reshuffle and institutional reform.

Vietnam and Myanmar agreed to enhance air, landand sea route connectivity through stronger cooperation in seaportconstruction, maritime and aviation transport, and shipbuilding, as well asconsider the establishment of an aviation joint venture and the development ofroads connecting the two countries and within the cooperation framework ofASEAN, Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), and Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam(CLMV).

The transport of passengers and goods along thebilateral economic corridors will help promote trade, investment and tourismexchanges between Vietnam and Myanmar in particular and in the region as awhole.

Party leader Trong took this occasion to thankPresident Htin Kyaw and the Myanmar Government for creating favourableconditions for the Vietnamese businesses to make investment and hoped thecountry will provide more support for them to do more for the host country’sdevelopment efforts.

President Htin Kyaw welcomed Vietnamese firms tostep up investment in Myanmar for mutual benefits and highly valued Vietnam’sinvestment of 500 million USD in tourism.

The two leaders also exchanged regional andinternational issues of mutual concern and affirmed Vietnam and Myanmar haveshared a lot of benefits and similar viewpoints on regional and global securitymatters over the past few years. The two sides have actively coordinated andsupported each other at sub-regional, regional and global forums. 

They agreed to push ahead with information andviewpoint exchanges in such organisations as the GMS, the East-West EconomicCorridor (EWEC), and the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic CooperationStrategy (ACMECS) to intensify cooperation in using effectively and sustainablywater resources from the Mekong River for the common development and prosperityof the region and each country.

President Htin Kyaw affirmed Myanmar supportsVietnam to run for a non permanent seat at the UN Security Council in the2020-2021 tenure.

As regards the East Sea issue, the two leadersshared the same opinions that any disputes in the East Sea should be settledthrough peaceful measures and in accordance with international law, includingthe 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 

They called on the involved parties to implementfully and effectively the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea(DOC) and soon reach a Code of Conduct in the East Sea to maintain regionalpeace, stability, security and cooperation.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong andPresident Htin Kyaw emphasised that Vietnam and Myanmar need to promote roleand strengthen coordination with other ASEAN member nations to maintaininternal solidarity and unity as well as promote the central role of ASEAN inregional architectures, realise the ASEAN Community’s targets, and contributeto peace and stability in the region.

Late on the day, President Htin Kyaw hosted a banquet in honour of Party GeneralSecretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation.-VNA