(VOVworld) - Vietnam and Indonesia have issued a joint statement on the occasion of Vietnamese State President Truong Tan Sang’s visit to Indonesia from yesterday.

 

President Truong Tan Sang (left) and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono highly value the time-honored relations of friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations. Photo: VNA

According to the statement, during talks with his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Banbang Yudhoyono, both Presidents spoke highly of the time-honored friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations. They announced the upgrade of Vietnam-Indonesia relations to a level of strategic partnership and agreed on promoting the regular exchanges of high-ranking delegations. The two Foreign Ministries are assigned to work with relevant ministries and agencies to develop an action plan to implement the strategic partnership.

 

On defence and security cooperation, the two leaders supported the continued implementation of the 2010 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between defence officials and related activities and the 2005 cooperation agreement on crime prevention and control in the defence industry, and unusual security challenges.

 

In regards to trade, both agreed on bringing two-way trade turnover to 5 billion USD by 2015 and 10 billion USD by 2018. The two pledged to create an attractive and more favorable investment and trade environment. President Susilo expressed the wish that the Vietnamese government will continue to support Indonesia in economic cooperation in Vietnam.

 

Other potential areas of cooperation such as energy, agro-fishery, aquaculture and education-training have developed fruitfully,  the two leaders said, while agreeing to increase bilateral cooperation in food security, jointly carrying out oil and gas, coal and mining projects.

Both Presidents agreed on strengthening cooperation in ASEAN toward the common goal of building a united bloc by 2015. Vietnam is committed to supporting Indonesia as APEC Presidenct this year while Indonesia promised to do the same when Vietnam takes over the post in 2017.

On the East Sea issue, the two leaders reiterated the importance of maintaining peace, stability, safety, maritime security and freedom at sea. They agreed to resolving disputes through peaceful means, and respecting international law including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. They voiced their mutual support for ASEAN's Six-Point Principles on the East Sea and welcomed the Joint Statement of the 15^th ASEAN-China Summit on the 10^th anniversary of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) as well as the specific steps following the issued statement.

During the visit, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a series of agreements on extradition, legal aid and MoUs on cooperation in energy, mineral resources, finance and agriculture.

President Truong Tan Sang on Friday held talks with the Speaker of Indonesia’s Lower House Marzuki Alie as part of his ongoing visit there. During talks, the two sides expressed their satisfaction at the steady development of bilateral ties and agreed that the boosting of exchanges and experience sharing have created a legal foundation for cooperation between the two national assemblies and nations.

The same day, President Sang attended the Vietnam-Business Forum and laid a floral wreath at the Kalibata cemetery. He met with leaders from leading Indonesian businesses in aviation, oil and gas, coal, rice, real estate, food and pharmaceuticals. Sang said as the 2 most populated countries in Southeast Asia, Vietnam and Indonesia have large markets and can supplement one another in boosting bilateral ties with other countries in the region. Both countries are in a region of dynamic growth, which is becoming a preferred destination for many major groups and investors and has several multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as ASEAN and APEC. Therefore, Sang said that the government agencies and businesses of both countries should work more closely for their mutual benefit and for the development of both nations and the region as a whole