Senior officials of the Vietnam-Philippines Bilateral Cooperation Committee convened their eighth meeting in Hanoi on September 14, rejoicing at the recent progress in all-round cooperation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) welcomes Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister Evan Garcia.

The meeting was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Minh Khoi and his Philippine counterpart Evan Garcia.

The two sides reviewed bilateral relations since the seventh meeting of the committee in Manila in October 2013 along with the implementation of the Vietnam-Philippines Action Programme between 2011 and 2016.

They highlighted multifaceted collaboration in various spheres, regular visits between the two countries’ leaders and expanded people-to-people exchanges as helping to strengthen their ties and ensure regional and global peace, stability, cooperation and development.

They agreed to coordinate to successfully organise activities marking the 40 th founding anniversary of the nations’ diplomatic ties in 2016.

The Vietnamese side highly valued Philippine enterprises’ growing interest in its market and affirmed that the local Government pledges the best possible conditions for them to operate in Vietnam.

The senior officials agreed to actively explore new cooperation opportunities to boost bilateral trade to 3 billion USD in 2016, including through fostering the trade of agricultural and aquatic products and cooperation in oil and gas, electricity and coal production while promoting public-private partnership investments.

The Philippine officials voiced their pleasure at trade affiliation between the two countries and promised to continue importing Vietnamese rice.

On the occasion, the two Deputy Foreign Ministers co-chaired the second meeting of their countries’ Joint Committee on Sea and Ocean Cooperation, during which they stressed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and maritime and aviation safety and security in the East Sea.

They also underscored the need for the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and efforts to finalise a code of conduct in the waters.

Also on September 14, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh hosted a reception for Philippine Deputy Foreign Minister Evan Garcia.

VNA