Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Myanmar President U Win Myint showed their elation at the growing comprehensive cooperative partnership between Vietnam and Myanmar during their meeting in Nay Pyi Taw on December 17.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and Myanmar President U Win Myint

The two sides discussed bilateral cooperation in a multitude of fields while agreeing that the friendship, mutual understanding and political trust has been further strengthened over the past years through regular high-level exchange visits and meetings, and people-to-people exchanges.

PM Phuc told his host that Vietnam always sticks great importance to and desires to boost relations with Myanmar for the sake of both nations’ people, and for peace, cooperation and development of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the region.

The two leaders were appreciative of the tremendous achievements in collaboration in the spheres of economics-trade-investment, defence-security, agriculture, tourism, energy, and information-telecoms.

It is worthy of note that this year’s two-way trade is forecast to outstrip US$1 billion, surpassing the target set for next year and Vietnam has become the fifth largest foreign investor in Myanmar.  

The Vietnamese Government leader asked President U Win Myint to push ahead with his instructions and meet legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese investors in Myanmar, while considering the organization of dialogues between senior Myanmar leaders and Vietnamese businesses operating in the country.

Host and guest consented to step up cooperation in the fields that contribute to tightening the friendship and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries such as culture, sports, labour and education-training.

Regarding regional and international issues, they agreed to continue offering mutual support at regional and international forums.

For the East Sea issue, the two leaders called for continued support for ASEAN's common stance on the East Sea and for settlement of disputes through peaceful measures on the basis of respect for international law, thus contributing to peace and stability in the East Sea

President Win Myint congratulated Vietnam for winning a non-permanent seat of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021 tenure.

He voiced his support for strengthening collaboration in all channels, including Party and legislative ones, and across multiple fields towards remarkable achievements in the lead up to the 45th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2020.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets
with Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi

The same day, PM Phuc held talks with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, during which he welcomed Myanmar’s proposal to set up Vietnam-Myanmar industrial park in Myanmar.

He asked ministries and businesses to become involved in discussions on the proposal, adding that the Vietnamese Government strongly incentivizes and supports Vietnamese enterprises to invest in Myanmar.

The cabinet member also hailed Myanmar Government’s efforts to remove barriers against Vietnamese enterprises and expressed thanks to its approval on importing Vietnamese dragon fruit.

He congratulated the Government and people of Myanmar on their considerable achievements in peace, national reconciliation and development, and external relations and showed his wish that Myanmar will successfully organize general elections next year.

For her side, State Counsellor San Suu Kyi welcomed Phuc on his first official visit to Myanmar and congratulated Vietnam on having been elected as non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the tenure 2020-2021.

The two leaders applauded the signing of an action plan for the implementation of the Vietnam-Myanmar comprehensive cooperative partnership on the occasion of PM Phuc’s ongoing visit.

They concurred to expand defense-security cooperation to new areas like navy, military medicine, military industry, military intelligence, border management, illegal migration and money laundering among others.

Both sides vowed not to allow individuals and organizations to use one country’s territory for conducting sabotaging activities against the other nation.

They were of the same mind about the promotion of talks and signing of agreements on extradition and transfer of sentenced persons and on protection of secret information.

The duo reaffirmed their determination to boost closer collaboration at regional and international forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations, ASEAN and other sub-regional mechanisms like ACMECS, CLMV, GMS, EWEC.

They also underscored the importance of maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in the East Sea, settling disputes through peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to ensure security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea.

Both sides stressed the need to respect diplomatic and legal processes while pledging to support full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and efforts to formulate an effective, substantial and legally-binding Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

After the talks, PM Phuc and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi witnessed the signing and handing over of three documents, including an action plan for implementation of the Vietnam-Myanmar comprehensive cooperative partnership for 2019-2024 period, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on agriculture and rural development cooperation, and a MoU between the two foreign ministries, and a diplomatic note amending the agreement on visa exemption for ordinary passport holders of both nations.