VietNamNet Bridge – After leaving South Korea, President Truong Tan Sang went to Hawaii to attend the APEC Summit. His first 100 days as Vietnam’s President were extremely eventful, with business trips to many countries.

At a meeting with Senator Jim Webb, chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in August 2011, President Sang confirmed that Vietnam would pursue its “open, multilateral and diverse” diplomatic policy. The President’s official visits during the first 100 days of his term have reflected this policy.

On September 26-29, Sang visited two Southeast Asian nations, Singapore and Malaysia. These were his first overseas visits since he was elected as Vietnam’s President in late July. The visits proved Vietnam’s emphasis on relations with countries in the region and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

During the two visits, the East Sea conflict was discussed, besides economic and trade issues. The leaders of Singapore and Malaysia agreed with Vietnam’s viewpoint on ensuring peace, stability, and security in the East Sea; solving sovereignty disputes in the East Sea based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).

The third Southeast Asian nation that President Sang visited is the Philippines. The visit took place on October 26-28, at the invitation of President Benigno Aquino III. Promoting bilateral cooperation in the sea is the most outstanding result of this trip. The Vietnamese President is also the first foreign chief of state that President Aquino III received since he assumed the presidency in June 2011.

During this visit, Vietnam and the Philippines signed four agreements, including the Memorandum of Understand on strengthening cooperation and information sharing between the two naval forces and the Agreement on setting up a telephone line between the two sea police forces. Especially, the two sides confirmed that marine and oceanic cooperation is among the pillars in their bilateral relationships.

Regarding to the East Sea conflict, Vietnam and the Philippines confirmed the significance of maintaining peace, stability, security and marine safety in the region, emphasizing an approach that is based on international laws, particularly the UNCLOS to solve matters through dialogue and multilateral consultation. In addition, the central role of ASEAN and the significance of the full implementation of the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) 2002 was also emphasized.

Visits to South Asia
Before going to the Philippines, President Sang paid official visits to two South Asian countries, which have traditional ties with Vietnam – India and Sri Lanka, from October 11 to 15. In his interview with India’s PTI news agency before the trip, which was quoted by many international news agencies, Sang stressed that Vietnam would continue promoting the strategic relations between Vietnam and India.

The President also confirmed that oil and gas projects between Vietnam and foreign partners in the East Sea, including India’s ONGC, are all located on Vietnam’s continental shelf and Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and belong to Vietnam’s sovereignty and national jurisdiction.

He said that Vietnam welcomes foreign partners to cooperate with Vietnamese companies to explore oil and gas on Vietnam’s continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, based on Vietnam’s laws. Vietnam commits and is responsible to protect their legal rights and interests of foreign partners.

Indian leaders confirmed to support peace and security in the East Sea and India considers Vietnam as the pillar in its Looking East policy. At the meeting between President Sang and Indian PM Manmohan Singh, the two sides agreed to speed up cooperation in new areas, promote cooperation in the fields of potential like economics, trade and investment while strengthening defense and security cooperation.

Through the visit, Vietnam and India affirmed the significance of maintaining peace and security in the East Sea. Accordingly, conflicts in the East Sea need to be solved by peaceful negotiation based on international laws, including the UNCLOS and DOC.

Attending the APEC Summit for the first time
President Sang is now in Hawaii (November 10 to 13) to participate in the APEC Summit, at the invitation of US President Barack Obama.

The APEC Summit 2011 is considered to make important impacts on Asian countries. US President Barack Obama is expected to shift the US’ focus of diplomacy to Asia, the world’s most dynamic developing region.

President Sang went to Hawaii after paying a visit to South Korea from November 8 to 10. This is the first visit of the Vietnamese President in the last ten years. The visit took place at the time the two countries are preparing for the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

Vietnam and South Korea upgraded their ties into a strategic partnership in 2009. South Korea is now among the most important economic partners of Vietnam. This country is the largest investor in Vietnam, with $23.3 billion of registered capital by August 2011. It is also a big ODA provider for Vietnam, with over $400 million committed this year.

During the visit, the two countries agreed to strive for raising two-way trade turnover to $20 billion before 2015 and $30 billion in the future. President Lee Myung Bak stated that South Korea considers Vietnam as its important partner in the region.

President Truong Tan Sang's overseas trips in photos:


VNE