Assistant to the Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu (Photo: VNA) At the event, the Malaysian official lauded Vietnam’s successin COVID-19 prevention and control, socio-economic development, and externalrelations, particularly in its positions as Chair of ASEAN in 2020 and anon-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.
Stressing that Vietnam is the only strategic partner ofMalaysia in Southeast Asia, he affirmed that Malaysia always attachesimportance to and wants to foster its cooperation with Vietnam so that therelations will be more extensive and effective.
For his part, Hieu expressed his belief that Malaysia willsoon overcome the pandemic and recover its economy.
Taking the occasion to thank the Malaysian side forfacilitating flights to repatriate Vietnamese citizens in the past time, thediplomat requested that Malaysia continue to support Vietnamese businesses andcitizens living in the country as well as give humanitarian treatment toVietnamese fishermen detained in Malaysian waters.
He stated Vietnam will continue creating favourableconditions for Malaysian investors, experts, managers, and skilled workers toenter Vietnam in line with health and pandemic control requirements.
The officials noted the robust growth of the Vietnam –Malaysia strategic partnership over the past years, and discussed specificcollaboration orientations across fields to implement outcomes of a meetingbetween the two countries’ Prime Ministers on the sidelines of the recent ASEANLeaders’ Meeting in Indonesia.
The two sides pledged to work closely to hold high-level andall-level delegation exchanges when conditions allow and to soon implementbilateral cooperation mechanisms such as joint committee and joint tradecommittee.
The officials noted they will also speed up the building ofan action programme on implementing the nations’ strategic partnership for 2021– 2025 so that the document can be approved by the 6th meeting ofthe countries’ joint committee for cooperating in economy and science-technology.The meeting is scheduled to take place in the last half of this year.
The sides also discussed regional and international mattersof common concern and vowed to continue with mutual support and collaborationat multilateral organisations and forums, including ASEAN and the UN.
Regarding the East Sea issue, they emphasised the importanceof maintaining peace, stability, security, and maritime and aviation safety inthe waters; resolving disputes by peaceful measures in line with internationallaw, particularly the 1982 UN Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); andfacilitating the negotiation on a practical and effective Code of Conduct inthe waters (COC)./.
VNA
