Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham BinhMinh held talks with visiting Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs RetnoMarsudi in Hanoi on December 23, during which both sides agreed to enhanceall-round cooperation in the time ahead.

The two foreign ministers expressed their delight at the traditional friendshipand strong strategic partnership between the two nations in recent years,particularly economic cooperation has been thriving with two-way trade in 2019 projectedat 9.6 billion USD.

As both nations are celebrating the 65th anniversary of theirbilateral diplomatic relations in 2020, Minh and Retno Marsudi agreed toorganise celebration activities so as to raise public awareness of the sound bilateralties. Besides, they would work to enhance bilateral cooperative mechanisms,including the 4th meeting of the Vietnam – Indonesia CooperationCommittee and the 8th meeting of the joint committee on economic,scientific and technological cooperation, as well as push up the implementationof the Strategic Partnership Action Plan 2019-2023.

Discussing regional and international issues of mutual concerns, both diplomatslaid stress on the Vietnam – Indonesia cooperation, affirming that it plays animportant part in each nation’s development while contributing to regionalpeace and stability.

They said it is crucial to maintain the central role of the ASEAN, especiallywhen Vietnam is performing in its role as the ASEAN Chair and a non-permanentmember of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2020.

Indonesia affirms support for Vietnam’s initiatives during the ASEANChairmanship Year 2020 with the theme of “Cohesive and Resilient”.

Both sides reached consensus on promoting the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific(AOIP) which was approved at the 34th ASEAN Summit in Thailand inJune, calling it an important basis for the bloc to boost collaboration withforeign partners in the time ahead.

The two ministers also voiced their concerns over the recent developments inthe East Sea, and condemned the activities that violate legitimate rights ofcoastal countries and hinder normal and long-lasting economic activities,saying they seriously affect regional peace, stability and security, runagainst the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties on the East Sea(DOC), and affect the favourable environment for negotiaions on the Code ofConduct (COC).

They were unanimous that Vietnam, Indonesia and other ASEAN member statesshould work to maintain their common voice and ASEAN’s central role to settlethe disputes on the basis of respect to international law, including the 1982United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

In addition, the two diplomats agreed to continue close coordination in theframework of the United Nations, especially the UNSC in 2020.

Indonesia pledges to support Vietnam to successfully complete its role as theUNSC Chair in January 2020, and hails the latter’s initiative to organise an opendiscussion about the 75th anniversary of the UN Charter, and aseminar to deliver report on the UN – ASEAN cooperation in maintaining peaceand security in the region and the world./.