Hanoi (VNA) –Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Philippinecounterpart Enrique Manalo co-chaired the 10th meeting of the countries’ joint commission on bilateral cooperation in Hanoi on August 2.

Manalo, who is on an officialvisit to Vietnam, affirmed that the Philippines always values consolidating anddeveloping the friendly and multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam, its solestrategic partner in ASEAN.

In response, Son emphasisedthe significance of Manalo’s trip in further promoting the bilateral strategicpartnership.

At the function, the sidesconducted a comprehensive review and evaluation of the bilateral relationshipsince the 9th meeting held in Manila in March 2019 as well as of theimplementation of the Vietnam-Philippines action programme for 2019-2024. They expressedtheir satisfaction with the sound development of the ties over the past fouryears, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both sides agreed uponvarious specific measures to continue promoting collaboration across spheres,including high-level exchanges and contacts, especially the organisation of PhilippinePresident Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.'s visit to Vietnam at an appropriatetime.

They aimed to effectively carryout bilateral cooperation mechanisms; advance the buildingof an action programme implementing the Vietnam-Philippines strategicpartnership for 2025-2030; and to strengthen defence and security cooperation.Moreover, they agreed to strive to bring bilateral trade turnover to 10billion USD at an early date, with a particular emphasis on rice trade.

They pledged to enhancemaritime cooperation, share information and coordinate to promptly addressarising issues at sea, and improve the effectiveness of cooperation incombating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Additionally,they concurred to promote collaboration in other important areas such as agriculture,culture, tourism, education, transport, science-technology, environment, andpeople-to-people exchange.

Vietnam and the Philippineswill continue coordinating and supporting each other at multilateral forums,especially in ASEAN and the United Nations; as well as working with otherASEAN member states to maintain ASEAN's solidarity and centrality and promote thebloc’s sub-regional cooperation, contributing to building a strong andprosperous community.

The two ministers also agreedto strengthen cooperation between their foreign ministries, regardingexchanges on international and regional issues of mutual concern, and jointworks between their diplomatic academies.

Concluding the meeting, the ministerssigned an agreement and agreed to organise the 11th meeting in thePhilippines at a suitable time in 2025./.