Indonesia, Vietnam to Strengthen Strategic Partnerships

President Jokowi meets Chief of the Vietnam Parliament along with delegations of two countries in Hanoi, Wednesday (12/9) (Photo: Press and Media Bureau)

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo on Wednesday (12/9) met with Chairwoman of the Vietnam National Assembly Nguy?n Th? Kim Ngân in Hanoi, Wednesday (12/9) to talk about three issues related to the relations between the two countries.

First, President Jokowi welcomed the Indonesian-Vietnamese inter-parliamentary cooperation. According to the President, this cooperation needs to be improved continuously through mutual visits and close cooperation in regional and international inter-parliamentary forums.

“Good inter-parliamentary cooperation will strengthen the Indonesia-Vietnam Strategic Partnership. I hope the cooperation can also promote democratic principles in the region,” the President said.

The second issue is strengthening Indonesia-Vietnam strategic partnership through the signing of Action Plan for the Implementation of the Indonesia-Vietnam Strategic Partnership for 2019-2023 on Tuesday (11/9). President Jokowi added that the action plan can expand the fields of partnership between Indonesia and Vietnam, including in industrial and intellectual property innovation, creative economy, digital economy, and human resources development in the face of the Industrial Revolution 4.0.

“The successful implementation of the action plan will help us in facing the global economic uncertainty. Therefore, I hope for the support of Her Majesty and the Vietnamese parliament,” President Jokowi continued.

The last issue is socio-cultural cooperation. According to the President, people-to-people cooperation will strengthen community relations. “For this reason, we need to improve connectivity between the two countries,” the President said. On this issue, the President also welcomed the implementation of sister city/sister province cooperation through the establishment of Ba Ria Vung Tau Trade Center in Padang City.

With the sister city scheme, a number of agendas such as business meetings between entrepreneurs from Ba Ria-Vung Tau City and Padang City, West Sumatra Province, and cooperation in urban spatial planning, green open spaces, conservation of historic sites, and satellite city management can be intensively managed. “This cooperation can also boost people-to-people contact between our countries,” the President added.

On that occasion, President Jokowi also congratulated the 73^rd anniversary of Vietnam National Day on September 2, 2018 and prayed for peace and prosperity for the people of the country. “Indonesia and Vietnam are united as ASEAN family. Friendship between our two countries has been established since the days of President Soekarno and President Ho Chi Minh,” said President Jokowi.

Meanwhile, Chairwoman of the Vietnam National Assembly Nguy?n Th? Kim Ngân praised Indonesia for its achievements in various fields under the leadership of President Joko Widodo, one of which is the success in organizing the recently-concluded 2018 Asian Games.

“I would also like to congratulate Indonesia for being elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2019-2020 and Indonesia’s leadership in the region,” Nguy?n said.

On behalf of the Vietnamese government, Nguyen also expressed condolences over the earthquake that hit Lombok island in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province. “I’d like to convey my deepest condolences for all the victims and losses in the Lombok quake. We share the feelings of Indonesian people,” she concluded. (BPMI / EN) (STU/EP/Naster)