Bangkok (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister and ForeignMinister Pham Binh Minh attended the ASEAN-Russia Foreign Ministers’ Meetingand the ASEAN-New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on July 31 in Bangkok,Thailand, as part of the 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-52) andrelated meetings.

At the ASEAN-Russia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, theministers acknowledged the important development milestones in the relations betweenthe two sides, including the upgrade of ties to strategic partnership in 2018.

They agreed on the need to promote comprehensive cooperationin all pillars, focusing on a number of prioritised areas such asanti-terrorism, energy security, cyber security, agriculture, trade,investment, small and medium-sized enterprises development, education,connection, tourism, and people-to-people exchange.

The two sides will continue exploring the possibility ofstrengthening the cooperation between the ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as well as the effective implementation of theASEAN-Russia Declaration on security in information and communicationtechnology, including the establishment of the ASEAN-Russia dialogue on ICT.

At the ASEAN-New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, ASEANcountries lauded New Zealand’s efforts in conducting the People Strategy andProsperity Strategy to promote connection with the ASEAN.

They highlighted the significance of commemoration of 45years of ASEAN-New Zealand strategic partnership in 2020.

The two sides concurred to strengthen cooperation in somenew areas such as renewable energy, infrastructure development, aviationconnection, investment, digital economy, and agro-fisheries.

ASEAN countries highly valued New Zealand’s support to theassociation in education, people-to-people exchange, capacity building, climatechange and natural disaster prevention through the ASEAN Coordinating Centrefor Humanitarian Assistance (AHA).

Addressing the events, Minh affirmed that Vietnam willactively work with ASEAN members to expand and deepen all-round ties betweenthe bloc and Russia and New Zealand, especially in maritime cooperation,connection and sustainable development, economy-trade-investment, education-training,digital economy, Fourth Industrial Revolution adaptation, tourism andpeople-to-people exchange.

He showed concern on complicated developments in the EastSea, including unilateral actions that harm trust and peace. He underscored theprinciples agreed by ASEAN, while calling on parties to exercise restraint, notto use or threaten to use force, and not to conduct actions that complicate thesituation and increase tension. He also stressed the need for upholdinginternational law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982(UNCLOS 1982), the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct ofParties in the East Sea (DOC), and the soon formation of a Code of Conduct inthe East Sea (COC).

The ministers shared Vietnam’s concern and agreed on thesignificance to strictly abide by international law and not to make actions thatraise tension and complicate the situation.

They showed support to ASEAN’s principles and role inmaintaining peace, stability and security in the East Sea.

The same day, Deputy PM Minh had ameeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which both sidesspoke highly of the two countries organising various activities to mark theVietnam-Russia Friendship Year 2019-2020, with the two Prime Ministers inauguratingthe Vietnam Year in Moscow in May.

Lauding the fruitful bilateral relations, they said regular visits andexchanges at all levels have been maintained, while cooperation in the fieldsof economy, trade, tourism, defence security and people-to-people exchange hasbeen developed.

Russian has granted 1,000 scholarships to Vietnamese students, and supportedRussian language teaching at Vietnamese high schools.

At the event, the Russian side laid stress on the importance of theASEAN-Russia cooperation, and affirmed support for the bloc’s central role inthe regional architecture.

Vietnam thanked Russia for supporting the former’s bid to become anon-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and hopedto receive further coordination from Russia during the country’s 2020-2021tenure at the UNSC, and ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020.

Meeting with Thai FM Don Pramudwinai, Minh congratulated Thailand on thenation’s achievements when holding the ASEAN Chair this year, and affirmed Vietnam’ssupport for Thailand’s chairmanship.

Touching on measures to promote the bilateral relations, the two ministers saidit is necessary for both sides to complete the building of the for 2019-2024 actionprogramme implementing the Vietnam-Thailand strategic partnership. They saidthe move is significant to realise agreements between high-level leaders of thetwo countries, particularly the implementation of solutions to facilitatingtrade-investment towards improving trade balance and realising the target of 20billion USD in two way trade in 2020 which was reached during the meetingbetween two Prime Ministers on the sidelines of the 34th ASEAN Summit.

Don Pramudwinai said Thailand stands ready to back Vietnam to well perform itsrole as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, while speaking highly of Vietnam’scapacity to take on the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020.

While meeting with Norwegian ForeignMinister Eriksen Soreide, both ministers expressed their pleasure at thepositive development of the two countries’ relations in recent times.

They agreed to push negotiations ona free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association(EFTA).

Minister Soreide affirmed thatVietnam is an important partner and market of Norway and the European countrywants to expand investment and establish businesses in the Southeast Asiannation.

Deputy PM Minh thanked Norway forsupporting Vietnam to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Councilfor 2020-2021 and agreed to strengthen coordination with Norway within theframework of the UN Security Council and other multilateral forums.

At a meeting with Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, the two sides expressed their satisfaction at the growingtraditional friendship and special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos in allfields through the Party, State, National Assembly, Government andpeople-to-people channels.

The two ministers highly appreciated the cooperation efficiency betweentheir foreign ministries and agreed to closely work together to implement thebilateral agreement in the 2014-2020 period as well as increase consultationsand regular exchanges, and jointly complete the implementation of an agreementon settling free migration and undocumented marriage in the border areas.

They agreed to organise a conference reviewing the one-stop-shop model atthe Lao Bao – Densavan international border gate and strengthen coordination atregional and international mechanisms such as the United Nations (UN), theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Greater Mekong Subregion(GMS), and the Ayeyawady-ChaoPhraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS).

At a meetingbetween Deputy PM Minh and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, the two sidesreached high consensus on orientations and specific measures to boost theextensive strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia betweenVietnam and Japan in all fields such as politics-diplomacy, economy-trade,investment-development cooperation, security-defence, education-training,culture and people-to-people exchanges.


They agreed toenhance delegation exchanges, especially among high-level officials, and createfavourable conditions for Japanese businesses to invest in Vietnam as well asboost the early implementation of Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation toimplement Japan’s specific skilled workers programme, promote activities of theVietnam-Japan University, and increase support for Japanese language teaching inVietnam.

The two ministersspent a great amount of time discussing views about regional and global issuesof mutual concerns such as enhancing cooperation between ASEAN and Japan,Mekong and Japan, and updating the situation in the Korean peninsula.

At the bilateralmeetings, Vietnam and its partners shared information on the current situationin the East Sea as well as the country’s viewpoint of addressing matters viapeaceful means and in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). - VNA