Vietnam, Philippines hold 10th meeting of joint commission on bilateral cooperation

Hanoi, August 3 (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Philippine counterpart 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 official visit to Vietnam, affirmed that the Philippines always values consolidating and developing the friendly and multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam, its sole strategic partner in ASEAN. In response, Son emphasised the significance of Manalo’s trip in further promoting the bilateral strategic partnership. At the function, the sides conducted a comprehensive review and evaluation of the bilateral relationship since the 9th meeting held in Manila in March 2019 as well as of the implementation of the Vietnam-Philippines action programme for 2019-2024. They expressed their satisfaction with the sound development of the ties over the past four years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both sides agreed upon various specific measures to continue promoting collaboration across spheres, including high-level exchanges and contacts, especially the organisation of Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.'s visit to Vietnam at an appropriate time. They aimed to effectively carry out bilateral cooperation mechanisms; advance the building of an action programme implementing the Vietnam-Philippines strategic partnership for 2025-2030; and to strengthen defence and security cooperation. Moreover, they agreed to strive to bring bilateral trade turnover to 10 billion USD at an early date, with a particular emphasis on rice trade. They pledged to enhance maritime cooperation, share information and coordinate to promptly address arising issues at sea, and improve the effectiveness of cooperation in combating 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, and people-to-people exchange. Vietnam and the Philippines will continue coordinating and supporting each other at multilateral forums, especially in ASEAN and the United Nations; as well as working with other ASEAN member states to maintain ASEAN's solidarity and centrality and promote the bloc’s sub-regional cooperation, contributing to building a strong and prosperous community. The two ministers also agreed to strengthen cooperation between their foreign ministries, regarding exchanges on international and regional issues of mutual concern, and joint works between their diplomatic academies. Concluding the meeting, the ministers signed an agreement and agreed to organise the 11th meeting in the Philippines at a suitable time in 2025./.