Vietnam, Malaysia vow to step up strategic partnership

Kuala Lumpur, July 13 (VNA) – Vietnam and Malaysia have agreed to increase visits at all levels and through all channels along with exchanges between their citizens in order to advance the bilateral strategic partnership. The consensus was reached during Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh’s visit to Malaysia from July 11-13 at the invitation of his Malaysian counterpart Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. On July 12, Deputy PM Binh met with Senate President Sanasee Vigneswaran, and held talks with his Malaysian counterpart Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. He also had a meeting with UMNO Secretary-General Tengku Adnan bin Tengku Mansor, and hosted receptions for President of the Court of Appeal Raus bin Sharif, Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi bin Ali and minister in charge of the National Security Council Shahidan bin Kassim. At these meetings, the two sides agreed to foster collaboration in national defence and security, and justice, including the early organisation of the first meeting of the high-level committee on defence cooperation at ministerial level. The two sides will step up the partnership between military forces and set up a new working group on naval cooperation, while expanding collaboration in crime combat, especially organised, cross-border and high-tech crimes, and human traffickers. The two sides will negotiate and sign a memorandum of understanding on legal cooperation and a range of agreements on fighting human trafficking, extradition, the transfer of convicted persons and legal assistance, in order to create the legal framework for joint work in combating crime. The Malaysian side gave positive response to Vietnam’s proposals to improve the efficiency of cooperation in oil and gas and soon negotiate an agreement on fishery cooperation and another on aviation services. They shared the necessity to facilitate investment of each other’s businesses, particularly in rice trading, halal food processing, agricultural product export, processing industry in service of rural development and support industry. The Malaysian side said they will consider receiving more Vietnamese labourers and pledge to support Vietnamese working and living in Malaysia. Deputy PM Binh appreciated Malaysian competent agencies’ efforts to handle the Vietnamese fishermen issue on the humanitarian spirit and suggested the Malaysian side reduce death penalty for a number of Vietnamese prisoners in the host country. The Malaysian side pledged to ensure the legitimate rights and a fair trial for Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese suspect in the death of a citizen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Malaysia. The two sides committed to tighten their coordination in building and developing the ASEAN Community and consolidate the group’s unity and central role in the region. They also affirmed the significance of peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, and stressed the need to settle disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and respect for legal and diplomatic processes; not use or threaten to use force; fully abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); accelerate the building of a framework of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) towards early formation of the COC. Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh is scheduled to pay a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Najib Razak and receive representatives of some leading Malaysian companies on July 13./.