Vietnam builds robust ties

Last week saw Vietnam’s Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and State President Truong Tan Sang make official visits to Thailand and Indonesia, respectively, improving Vietnam’s relations with these countries to a strategic partnership.

During his June 25-27 stay in Thailand, Trong had talks with Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and met with Somsak Kiatsuranont, President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Nikom Wairatpanij, President of the Senate along with other leaders from Thai political parties.

Under the Vietnam-Thailand joint statement released after Trong’s visit, the two nations “decided to elevate their bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership with a view to opening up new prospects for closer cooperation for the benefits of peoples of the two countries, and for peace, stability and development in the region, as well as contributing to the building of a united and strong ASEAN Community.”

To this end, the two nations will strategically focus on five main pillars of cooperation, including politics, defence and security, the economy, socio-cultural cooperation, and regional and international cooperation.

Political cooperation will be portrayed by exchanges of high-level visits and strategic political dialogues.

The two leaders vowed to promote cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, energy, telecommunications, information technology and transport in an effort to increase annual two-way trade volume to $15 billion by 2020. They also pledged to strengthen transport connectivity between the two countries and with other countries in the region via existing land transport networks and economic corridors, particularly the East-West Economic Corridor, route 8 and route 12.

Last year, Vietnam-Thailand bilateral trade turnover reached more than $8.6 billion. Vietnam currently has about 300 Thai valid investment projects, whose registered capital totals $6.12 billion. Big Thai companies already having presence in Vietnam include Amata Group, Siam Cement Group (SCG) and Bangkok Bank.

Meanwhile, during his June 27-28 stay in Indonesia, State President Truong Tan Sang said he and his counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono “decided to lift the Vietnam-Indonesia comprehensive and traditional relations to a strategic partnership.”

“I do believe that the strategic partnership will create a new impetus for cooperation to be further strengthened,” Sang said.

Also during this visit, Vietnam and Indonesia inked two agreements on judiciary and criminal extradition cooperation, and two memoranda of understanding on farm produce and financial cooperation.

“These deals demonstrate the determination of the two nations’ leaders and people in expanding and enhancing the effectiveness of the Vietnam-Indonesia relationship,” Sang said.

The two countries have already clinched an action plan for the 2012-2015 period and more than 30 agreements to lay solid legal groundwork for bilateral cooperation in many sectors.

Vietnam-Indonesia bilateral trade turnover rose from $3.3 billion in 2010 to over $4.6 billion last year, which is expected to exceed $5 billion before 2015 and $10 billion in 2018. Vietnam exports rice, crude oil and farm produce to Indonesia and imports fertiliser, oil and gas, packaging, machinery, fabric, paper and confectionery.

In April of 2013, Indonesia ranked 27th out of 101 nations and territories investing in Vietnam, with 35 projects worth over $282 million focusing on oil and gas exploration and exploitation, coal mining, banking, tourism, wood processing and export, fibre production and garment manufacturing.