Hanoi (VNA) – Sultan of Brunei Haji HassanalBolkiah on March 28 concluded his three-day state-level visit to Vietnam, whichwas made at the invitation of Party General Secretary and President Nguyen PhuTrong.

The visit marked a new milestone in the traditional friendshipand partnership between the two countries.

During the visit, the two sides issued a joint statement onthe establishment of the Vietnam-Brunei comprehensive partnership.

After a welcome ceremony at the President Palace, the Bruneileader had talks with his host Nguyen Phu Trong, and met with Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc.

On the occasion, he paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh atthe late leader’s mausoleum, and laid wreath at the Monument of Heroic Martyrsin Hanoi.

At the meetings, the two sides agreed to make two-way tradebalance and sustainable, targeting 500 million USD in 2020.

They will optimise advantages in market access for eachother’s goods and services on the foundation of free trade agreements,including markets in the East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), while creating favourable conditions for businesses and promotingconnectivity between business communities of both sides. They will join tradefairs and deal with obstacles facing enterprises.

The two countries concurred to enhance cooperation amongeducation facilities through the exchange of students and lecturers, as well asjoint research and training programmes. They will soon organise the second meetingof the joint working group on education cooperation.

Both sides will continue creating favourable conditions forthe issuance of work permits for Vietnamese labourers in Brunei and vice versa,while considering the expansion of visa exemption for popular passports holdersfrom 14 to 30 days, and to 90 days for those holding diplomatic and officialpassports.

Vietnam and Brunei also shared standpoints on regional andinternational matters of mutual concern. They agreed to continue workingclosely in dealing with global and regional challenges such as trans-nationalcrimes, climate change response, natural disaster control, sustainable growthpromotion and food-water-power security.

The two sides reaffirmed the significance of maintaining andpromoting peace, maritime and overflight security, safety and freedom in theEast Sea, and stressed the need to strengthen mutual trust and settle disputespeacefully in line with international law, including the UN Convention on theLaw of the Sea.

All theclaimants and the other countries need to demilitarise and exerciseself-restraint when conducting activities which could increase tensions in theEast Sea, they stressed again.

The two sides emphasised that they support the full andeffective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in theEast Sea (DOC), while welcoming advancements in ASEAN-China cooperation as wellas in practical negotiations to finalise a code of conduct (COC) in the EastSea following the agreed roadmap.

A memorandum of understanding wassigned on the use of hotline for information-exchange to address illegal,unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by the Minister of Agriculture andRural Development of Vietnam and the Minister of Primary Resources and Tourismof Brunei.-VNA