President forges stronger ties with Asia and Africa

Meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Sang praised Indonesia's role in boosting political, social and economic co-operation between countries in Asia and Africa.

They said that Viet Nam and Indonesia should strengthen co-operation in key fields like economy, national defence and security and agreed on a two-way trade target of US$10 billion by 2018.

Sang also asked Indonesia to treat Vietnamese fishermen with courtesy and humanity to honour the friendship between the two peoples as well as the comprehensive partnership between the two countries. He promised that Vietnamese fishermen would be provided with fundamental knowledge of international maritime laws to respect Indonesian sea territory.

The two leaders agreed on the importance of resolving East Sea disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of internationally-recognised principles, especially the 1982 UNCLOS and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in East Sea (DOC), as also working towards an early formulation of the Code of Conduct (COC).

President Joko Widodo accepted President Sang's invitation to visit Viet Nam.

In a meeting with the Prime Minister of Egypt, Ibrahim Mahlab, President Sang noted Egypt's position as a major partner of Viet Nam in Africa in trade, investment, telecommunication, fisheries, agriculture and healthcare.

The Egyptian PM expressed his wish for more high-level exchange visits between the two countries.

In another meeting with the Palestinian PM Rami Hamdallah, Sang reaffirmed Viet Nam's long standing friendship with Palenstine and support for the struggle of the Palestinian people for their rights. The two leaders agreed to boost co-operation in the fisheries sector.

President Sang also met with South Korean deputy PM Hwang Woo-yea. He said South Korea was one of Viet Nam's closest partners in Asia. He promised the Vietnamese Government's support for Korean communities residing in Viet Nam and asked the deputy PM to aid Vietnamese living in South Korea.

Sang asked all the leaders he met to support Viet Nam's bid to become a member of the UNESCO Executive Council (2015-2019), the UN's Economic and Social Council (2016-2018) and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (2020-2021).

With East, SE Asian leaders

Meeting on the sidelines of the summit yesterday, President Sang and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe discussed ways to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between both countries.

Sang and Cambodian PM Hun Sen agreed Viet Nam and Cambodia should continue nurturing and improving bilateral relations in all fields towards bringing peace, prosperity and stability to the people of Southeast Asia.

In the meeting between Sang and Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong, the two leaders reiterated the need to boost co-operation in economic, trade and investment activites, mentioning in particular the Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Parks no. 6 and 7 in Nghe An and Hai Duong.

In another meeting, President Sang and Laos's Deputy PM cum Minister of Foreign Affairs Thongloun Sisoulith reaffirmed the traditional friendship and solidarity of the two peoples as well as the comprehensive co-operation between the two nations. They also confirmed a resolution to improve bilateral trade this year by 40 per cent over last year.