Hanoi (VNA) – The visit to Vietnam from January 11-13 byIndonesian President Joko Widodo is expected to further tighten theVietnam-Indonesia strategic partnership and deepen their bilateral cooperation.

This will be the President’s second statevisit to Vietnam, after the first in 2018.

Indonesia was the first Southeast Asiannation to set up diplomatic ties with Vietnam, on December 30, 1955.

Since then, the bilateral friendship hasbeen continuously nurtured by generations of leaders and peoples.

Since 1990, the two sides have organisedvarious visits by State, Government and National Assembly delegations, andpromoted cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

In June 2013, on the occasion of the statevisit to Indonesia by then President Truong Tan Sang, the two sides issueda joint statement on the establishment of their strategic partnership, markingan important milestone in the history of the bilateral diplomatic relations.

At multilateral forums, the two countrieshave maintained close coordination and shared views on many issues of strategicimportance associated with maintaining peace, stability, and security in theregion.

Economic collaboration and trade is described as a bright spot in bilateral relations. Currently, Indonesia isVietnam’s third biggest trade partner in the Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN), while the latter is the former’s fourth largest.

Two-way trade increased from 8.2 billionUSD in 2020 to 14.1 billion USD in 2022, and was estimated at over 12 billionUSD last year. The two countries are striving for 15 billion USD in two-waytrade by 2028.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Ta VanThong said that the two countries still have huge potential to be tapped and alot of advantages to supplement each other. In ASEAN, Indonesia is the largestmarket with more than 285 million consumers, while Vietnam is the third largestwith 100 million people and impressive economic growth.

In addition, they have many advantages toincrease two-way trade, as both are members of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

According to the diplomat, during PresidentWidodo’s trip, the two sides will exchange views on cooperation in fields ofshared concern such as promoting trade and investment, and cooperating inenergy transition and development of green and digital economy, electricvehicle manufacturing, and hi-tech agriculture.

As the world situation is experiencing bigdevelopments in terms of geopolitics, security, and economics, the two sideswill have many issues to discuss to boost cooperation and coordination atregional and international forums.

As both Vietnam and Indonesia have made strong commitments to cutting carbonemissions, demonstrating their responsibility in contributing to the globaleffort to respond to climate change, they can cooperate closely in the fieldsof energy transition, carbon storage, development of renewable and greenenergies, and sustainable green economic development.

It is necessary to consider the signing ofa new agricultural cooperation agreement to carry out specific collaborationprojects to increase farmers' livelihoods, ensure food security and promotetrade and economic development of each country, said Thong.

Tourism is also a promising field topromote collaboration between the two countries, he said. The resumption ofdirect flights after a period of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,and the opening of new Ho Chi Minh City – Jakarta and Hanoi – Jakarta routes bythe Vietnamese carrier Vietjet are favourable conditions for the twosides to cooperate in developing specific tourism products, connectingdestinations, and creating new products in a green and sustainable direction,he assessed./.