(VOVWORLD) - Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung held phone talks with Maria Theresa Lazaro, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues of mutual concern.
 Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung (Photo: VNA) |
The two ministers agreed to strengthen cooperation in all areas from politics, diplomacy, defense, security, and economy to people-to-people exchanges, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on July 12, 1976.
They emphasized the importance of promoting exchanges at all levels through Party, State, and Parliamentary channels, while effectively using existing cooperation mechanisms, particularly the Vietnam–Philippines Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation. They also expressed their determination to soon reach the target of 10 billion USD in bilateral trade turnover.
The two agreed that amid growing uncertainty and challenges, ASEAN needs to maintain regular information exchanges and coordination to respond effectively to emerging challenges, while upholding its solidarity, centrality, resilience, and capacity.
FM Trung pledged Vietnam’s support for the Philippines' ASEAN Chairmanship in 2026 and the priorities of the ASEAN Year under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together”.