Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will attend the ASEANLeaders’ Gathering (ALG) in Indonesia and pay a working visit to the countryfrom October 11-12 at the invitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

PM Phuc’s visit to Indonesia affirms Vietnam’s foreign policy of independencediversification and mutilateralisation of international relations, and the importancethat the country attaches to the relations with ASEAN member states and thestrategic partnership with Indonesia.
 
Also, the visit aims to promote cooperative opportunities in the fields oftrade, investment, defence, security, agriculture, environment, climate change,among others, thus developing the Vietnam-Indonesia strategic partnership in amore comprehensive and practical manner.

Vietnam and Indonesia set up diplomatic relations on December 30, 1955, but theyear 1990 marked the start of a new period in bilateral ties with the historicvisit of President Suharto to Vietnam in November that year.

New milestones in bilateral ties included the signing of the “Framework ofFriendly and Comprehensive Partnership Entering the 21st Century”and the Agreement on the Delimitation of Continental Shelf in June 2003 duringPresident Megawati’s visit in 2003, and the official establishment of theirstrategic partnership during President Truong Tan Sang’s State-level visit toIndonesia in 2013.

Particularly, the visit to Indonesia by Party General Secretary Nguyen PhuTrong, the first by a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam toIndonesia, in August 2017 opened a new chapter in the bilateral relations.

Thetwo nations have inked a line-up of cooperation agreements across varioussectors, with the latest being the Plan of Action for the Implementation ofStrategic Partnership during 2019-2023 signed in August this year.

Localities of both sides have enhanced cooperative ties, with partnership setup between several pairs of cities and provinces such as Kien Giang provinceand West Kalimantan, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and Padang city, Da Nang city andSomarang city, capital city of Hanoi and capital city of Jakarta, Hue city andYogyakarta city, and Soc Trang province and Lampang province.

In the past years, the two countries have enjoyed growing trade revenue, with4.6 billion USD recorded in 2012, 5.6 billion USD in 2016, more than 6.5billion USD in 2017, and 5.3 billion USD in the first eight months of the year.They are striving for 10 billion USD in two-way trade in the coming time.Vietnam’s major exports to Indonesia are rice, crude oil, cement, electronicsspare parts and agricultural products. Meanwhile, the country imports fromIndonesia fertiliser, gasoline, equipment, paper and confectionary.

As of June 2018, Indonesia ranked 5th in ASEAN and 30th out of 126 countries and territories having investment in Vietnam, with 514million USD in 71 projects. Indonesian investors are interested in oil and gasexploring, mining exploitation, banking, hotel, wood processing, fibreproduction and garment.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has so far invested 13 projects with total registeredcapital of 54.7 million USD in Indonesia, most of which are in oil and mining.

Regarding security-defence ties, the two countries have maintained delegationexchanges, and implemented cooperation agreements on officer training and jointsearch and rescue activities.

The two countries are working to expand collaboration and experience sharing inthe fields of legislation and justice at both central and local levels.Cultural and sports exchange activities have also receive due attention.

Also, they have inked Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) to bolster cooperationin fisheries, agriculture, finance and energy.-VNA