Vietnam, Philippines look at expanding cooperation to many areas

Meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos in Manila, Hue said the two countries could cooperate in many fields including agriculture, science and technology, education and training, digital transformation, digital economy, climate change response, cybersecurity and green energy transformation.

The leaders agreed that bilateral trade was a highlight of relations between the two countries with total import-export turnover in 2021 reaching $6.8 billion, the highest to date. Trade turnover in the first 10 months of 2022 reached nearly $6.6 billion.

Hue also asked Philippines to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese living and working in the country and continue to ensure humane treatment of Vietnamese fishermen.

President Marcos said he highly appreciated the integration and contribution of the Vietnamese community in the Philippines. He also asked Vietnam to increase imports of products from the Philippines towards stabilize the trade balance.

The two sides agreed to coordinate their common stance on issues within the framework of the United Nations, ASEAN and APEC.

Hue is on his first official visit to the Philippines from November 23-25, according to the Office of the National Assembly.

Before meeting with President Marcos, he held talks with Philippines’ Speaker of the House of Representatives Martin Romualdez and Philippine Senate President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri.

Romualdez said Hue’s visit will further the strategic partnership between the two countries. He noted that the Philippines has adopted Resolution 571 on strengthening cooperation between Vietnam and Philippines through a grouping of friendly parliamentarians.

Hue expressed his belief that the resolution would be an important milestone in strengthening relations between the legislative bodies of the two countries as well as their strategic partnership.

The National Assembly Chairman witnessed the Philippines Senate carry out procedures to approve Resolution No. 26 on forging close parliamentary relations between Vietnam and the Philippines. The resolution aims to elevate political, economic and cultural cooperation, develop and strengthen cooperation in key areas.