Brunei’s second Minister of Foreign Affairs said his country supports Viet Nam as the ASEAN Chair and non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. 

Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (right) meets with Brunei second
Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof in Nha Trang city of the central coastal
province of Khanh Hoa on January 17, 2020. Photo: VGP

He made the statement at the meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Nha Trang city of the central province of Khanh Hoa on Friday.

The two sides expressed their pleasure at the new developments of the Viet Nam-Brunei friendship and cooperation, especially since the two countries elevated their ties to comprehensive partnership on the occasion of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah’s State visit to Viet Nam in March last year.

Deputy PM, FM Minh suggested both sides coordinate closely in concretizing the outcomes of the aforesaid visit, including early organization of the second session of the Viet Nam-Brunei Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation and development of an Action Plan to implement the comprehensive partnership.

The two countries should step up efforts to further foster trade and economic cooperation in a bid to realize their two-way trade goal of US$500 million by 2025.

The pair agreed to strengthen coordination of the two countries’ positions on regional and global issues in the next two years as ASEAN Chairs, with a focus on consolidating ASEAN centrality and capacity to cope with traditional and non-traditional security challenges, maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation as well as the rule of law in the East Sea.

Both sides also pledged to accelerate talks for conclusion of an effective and practical Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea./.