PM meets Sultan of Brunei on sidelines of ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting

The Sultan of Brunei repeated his congratulation to Chinh on his recent election as the Prime Minister of Vietnam and praised the country’s achievements in COVID-19 prevention and control, socio-economic development, and external relations.

He stressed that the nation successfully undertook the ASEAN chairmanship last year, coming up with many initiatives in contribution to the bloc’s peace, cooperation, and growth.

For his part, the Vietnamese PM congratulated Brunei on its progress in pandemic control, and affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to fostering the relations with Brunei and supports Brunei’s 2021 ASEAN chairmanship.

Acknowledging positive progress in bilateral relations over the past time, both leaders emphasised the upgrade of the Vietnam - Brunei relations to a comprehensive partnership in 2019 during the Sultan’s visit to Vietnam as an important milestone, creating a driving force for their cooperation to be increasingly consolidated and enhanced.

They agreed upon key areas for collaboration in the time to come, which include increasing high-level exchanges and meetings when conditions allow; organising the second meeting of the nations’ joint cooperation committees at the foreign ministerial level in 2021; building an action programme to implement their comprehensive partnership in the next five years; and promoting the effectiveness of bilateral join works in energy, agriculture, and education.

The leaders concurred to fortify economic ties and add new suitable sectors to the current cooperation in a bid to double the bilateral trade in the future.

The Brunei’s side will assist Vietnamese companies in the production and issue licences allowing Vietnamese Halal products to enter the local market.

The leaders said they encourage Vietnamese and Brunei firms to expand their investment and trade relationships and support the two nations’ increasing collaboration at sea, particularly in aquaculture, seafood processing and information and experience exchange on law enforcement.

Expressing his gratitude toward Brunei’s support for Vietnam’s positions as the Chair of ASEAN last year and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, PM Chinh asked Brunei to back Vietnam’s hosting of the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases.

The Sultan invited PM Chinh to visit Brunei, which he accepted with pleasure. The Vietnamese PM also offered an invitation to the Sultan to visit Vietnam again.