Joint Press Statement of President of the Republic of Indonesia and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday, March 10, 2025

His Excellency Tô Lâm, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, and the delegation from Viet Nam,

Ministers and high-ranking officials of the two countries,

The press,

My fellow citizens wherever you are.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Peace be upon us all,

Shalom,

Om swastiastu,

Namo Buddhaya.

Today we have the honor to receive a visit from His Excellency, Tô Lâm, and a high-level delegation from Viet Nam. This visit coincides with 70 years anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Viet Nam.

Indonesia and Viet Nam have long-standing relations; relations that based on the same values, the same historical backgrounds. Indonesia and Viet Nam both fought imperialism and colonization for hundreds of years. We declared our independence in the same year. We fought the colonizers with a war that required great sacrifices. Viet Nam [war] was longer, Viet Nam made more sacrifices, they fought a 30-year war without stopping. So, with the same values, the same history, also we have the same goal and vision. We want to be a developed country in 2045, the 100th year of our independence.

We have agreed in our meeting that we want to enhance our relations, our cooperation. We want to upgrade our relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and we really want to strengthen and cooperate in almost all fields; political field, economic field, defense and security field, people to people field, exchange of visits in the field of education and science, almost in all fields we want to increase cooperation and achieve a good economic integration if possible.

We agreed to establish bilateral economic relations, reaching the target of US$18 billion by 2028. We also welcome Viet Nam’s investment in Indonesia in the automotive sector, also in agriculture, and in various other fields. This will help both countries improve food security and we can even become a contributor to global food sector.

We also agreed to cooperate in fisheries, digital economy, and green economy sectors, and in the upcoming high-tech industry. In the fields of defense and security, we agreed to increase cooperation, especially in the defense industry, also in joint exercises, cooperation between our two defenses, exchange of officers, enhancement in training, and we even agreed to conduct joint patrols.

We also welcome the ASEAN vision towards 2045, which will probably be declared at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur next May. We both agreed that peace and stability are key to regional prosperity. We agree to continue to enhance cooperation with our other ASEAN partners. We have already established some cooperations, as previously mentioned, in the fields of fisheries industry development, training in engineering and digital economy, and also cooperation between central banks.

I once again thank Your Excellency for this visit and I have stated that I will make a reciprocal visit to Viet Nam in the near future. And, in this upcoming opportunity I hope we can sign an implementing agreement on our cooperation in our economic zone, which is a cooperation agreement between the two countries that resolves an issue that I think have not resolved for quite a long time, maybe a dozen years. Thank God, it’s done. We hope for ratification by our parliament in April after Eid and their legislature will also ratify it soon. God willing, I will sign it in Hanoi during my state visit in return for the visit of His Excellency Tô Lâm.

I think that’s all. I really welcome the agreements that we have reached. We are confident that this will bring prosperity to our two peoples.

I thank you.

(AN/MMB)