Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Myanmar have issued a joint statement on the occasion of Myanmar President Htin Kyaw’s State visit to Vietnam, vowing to bui🃏ld on the achieved outcomes to further expand and deepen the close friendship between the two countrie𓂃s.

The two Presidents affirmed the importance of the friendship foundation laid by President Ho Chi Minh and General Aung San. They expressed satisfaction at the progress in bilateral cooperation, particularly in the 12 priority fields, which are agriculture, industrial crops, fishery, finance-banking, aviation, telecoms, oil and gas, mining, electrical appliance, auto manufacturing and assembling, construction and trade-investment. The two State leaders agreed to increase the exchange of all-level visits and contact on all channels – Party, Government, State, National Assembly and people-to-people exchange; while maintaining existing bilateral cooperative mechanisms. Accordingly, the two countries will hold the 9 th meeting of the Vietnam-Myanmar Inter-Committee on Bilateral Cooperation in Vietnam, the 7 th meeting of the Political Consultation at foreign deputy ministerial level in Myanmar in 2017 and other sectoral cooperative mechanisms. The two sides pledged to deepen mutually beneficial bilateral trade-investment ties and create the best possible conditions for the strong development of business activities. President Htin Kyaw acknowledged the operation of the Association of Vietnamese Investors in Myanmar and promised to facilitate investment in fields that open the way for other business operations such as banking, aviation, telecoms and mining. The two sides agreed to hold the 9 th meeting of the sub-committee on trade in 2016 and strive for the early signing of agreements on customs and financial cooperation, revisions to the agreement on investment protection and an MoU on investment promotion to meet requirements in the current period. The President shared the view and interest on peace and stability in the region, and reiterated their commitment to strengthening bilateral defence-security cooperation mechanism through sharing information and experience, and optimizing existing cooperative mechanisms. They agreed to consider the early establishment of a defence policy dialogue and a joint working group of the two defence ministries. The fifth security dialogue of the two countries will be held in the near future, while negotiations will be accelerated for the signing of an MoU on mutual assistance on criminal matters. The two sides also acknowledged the importance of cooperation to respond to traditional and non-traditional security challenges while encouraging coordination of law enforcement forces of the two countries in preventing individuals and organisations from using one country’s territory to conduct sabotaging attempts against the other. The two countries will offer favourable conditions and ensure security, safety and interests of each other’s expatriates. The two Presidents supported stronger people-to-people exchange and ties between localities, especially between Vietnam’s Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and Myanmar’s Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon. President Htin Kyaw advocated the early establishment of the Myanmar-Vietnam Friendship Association to join hand with the Vietnam-Myanmar Friendship Association in promoting bilateral ties. The two sides will join hands in using water resources of Mekong River in a sustainable and effective manner, particularly in the framework of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) and related organisations. Myanmar took note of Vietnam’s recommendation that Myanmar become a full member of the MRC. The Presidents affirmed their commitment to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region, bolstering efforts to build the ASEAN Community through the full and effective implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision to 2025, while confirmed the importance of the peaceful settlement of disputes in the region as well as of efforts to maintain ASEAN’s unity and promote the bloc’s central role in regional architectures. The State leaders reiterated their commitment to safeguarding and promoting peace, security and stability in the region, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes, including full respect for diplomatic and legal process, no use of force or threat to use force, obedience to widely-recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982). The two sides re-affirmed support for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and accelerated joint work to finalise a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). President Htin Kyaw invited President Tran Dai Quang to early visit Myanmar, and the latter accepted the invitation with pleasure.-VNA