The fifth meeting of the Vietnam-Malaysia joint Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Hanoi on July 27 has decided on a range of measures to increase bilateral and multilateral collaboration.
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) and Malaysia’s Minister of
Foreign Affairs Anifah Aman co-chair the fifth meeting of the Vietnam-Malaysia
joint Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation (Photo:
VNA)
Under the co-chair of
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and
Malaysia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anifah Aman, the two sides stressed they
attach great importance to each other’s role and position in the region and
share the common vision on intra-bloc and inter-regional cooperation.
The two sides affirmed
they will work together to build a strong ASEAN Community with solidarity and
to maintain peace, stability, security and development in the region.
Regarding political cooperation,
Vietnamand
Malaysiaagreed to increase mutual visits at all levels between their Parties,
Governments, States and parliaments, as well as promote people-to-people
exchanges.
The two sides will research how to expand cooperation between the two ruling
parties and coordinate to make good preparations for the State visit to
Malaysia by
Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in 2018 and organise
activities to celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year.
The two sides particularly highlighted economic cooperation as a bright point
in the bilateral relationship.
Malaysia is currently the seventh biggest trade
partner and investor of
Vietnamwith two-way rade reaching 8.4 billion USD in 2016. Malaysian investment in
Vietnamamounted to 12 billion USD as of the end of May this year.
They concurred to boost trade and investment promotion activities to facilitate
goods exchange and investment flow.
Malaysia pledged to assist
Vietnamese producers of agro-fisheries products in meeting quality and hygiene
standards to export to the Malaysian market.
The two countries will encourage the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam)
and
Malaysia’s
National Oil Company Inc. (Petronas) to explore opportunities for bilateral and
multilateral cooperation.
Given the rising traditional and non-traditional security challenges, the two
countries agreed to push cooperation in security and defense, and share
information and policies in the field.
They consented to forge ahead with negotiations for the signing of cooperation
agreements on fighting human trafficking, extradition and the transfer of
convicted persons to improve the legal framework in crime prevention and
combat.
Sea and ocean cooperation was also high on the meeting’s agenda, with Deputy PM
and FM Pham Binh Minh hailing
Malaysiafor handling issues relating to Vietnamese fishermen and vessels based on the
friendship between the two countries and supporting Vietnamese ships in
distress.
Minister Anifah Aman said Malaysian competent agencies will continue sharing
information with
Vietnamto fight pirate, provide search and rescue, and consider the establishment of a
hot line and joint patrols between the two countries’ naval forces. Malaysian
will also consider negotiating with
Vietnam’s marine police on a
cooperation agreement.
The two sides were
committed to actively implementing the labour cooperation agreement signed in
2015. The Malaysian minister promised to consider
Vietnam’s proposal of receiving
more Vietnamese workers in some new professions such as fisheries and
entertainment services. The minister also affirmed Malaysia will pay due
attention to ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of overseas
Vietnamese in Malaysia, including the fair trial of Vietnamese citizen Tran Thi
Huong, who is a suspect in the death of a citizen of the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea in Malaysia.
Both nations agreed to enhance cooperation and mutual support at regional and
international forums, especially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and the United Nations (UN).
They emphasised the need to strengthen solidarity and maintain the central role
of ASEAN in the regional security architecture and pledged to increase
consultations for peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation
and aviation in the
East
Sea.
The two sides called on the involved parties to restrain themselves, not to use
or threat to use force, while fully respecting diplomatic and legal procedures
to address any disputes via peaceful means and in line with fundamental
principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of
the Sea (UNCLOS).
They reiterated their support for the full and effective implementation of the
Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the early
formation of a practical and legally-binding Code of Conduct in the East Sea
(COC).
Minister Anifah Aman said
Malaysiasupports
Vietnam’s hosting
of the Economic Leaders’ Meeting of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) forum in 2017, adding that Prime Minister Najib Razak will attend the
event in the central coastal
province of
Da Nang in November.
The sixth Vietnam-Malaysia joint Committee for Economic, Scientific and
Technological Cooperation will be held in
Malaysia in 2019.
Source: VNA
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