President Luong Cuong holds summit meeting with Brazilian Lula da Silva

Luong warmly welcomed President Lula, a close and long-standing friend of the Vietnamese people, to visit Viet Nam again, underscoring the special significance of the visit which takes place more than four months after the two countries elevated ties to a Strategic Partnership.

The visit is a vivid evidence of the friendship, close cooperation and mutual trust and injects momentum to further heighten and concretize the newly-established cooperation framework between the two countries.

As Viet Nam is set to mark the 50^th anniversary of liberation of the South and national reunification in 2025, President Luong expressed gratitude to President Lula and people of Brazil for their solidarity and valuable support for Viet Nam during the past struggle for independence and the current nation construction.

President Lula expressed his pleasure to visit Viet Nam again after 17 years as well as his admiration for Viet Nam's glorious history.

Lula particularly congratulated on Viet Nam's great and comprehensive development achievements and its increasingly high position and role on the international arena.

He said that his visit aims to affirm that Brazil attaches importance and wishes to further strengthen the Strategic Partnership with Viet Nam in its overall policy toward ASEAN and Asia-Pacific.

In an open, sincere and trustworthy atmosphere, the two Presidents informed each other about recent developments in each country, reviewed the progress of the bilateral ties and charted major orientations to deepen the Viet Nam-Brazil Strategic Partnership in practical and effective manner.

The pair also compared notes on regional and international issues of common concern.

The two leaders stressed the importance of signing an action plan to implement the Viet Nam-Brazil Strategic Partnership; agreed to maintain the exchange of high-level visits and contacts and effectively implement the existing cooperation mechanisms to promote bilateral cooperation.

Both sides were pleased to witness the strong growth in trade exchange, with the two-way trade reaching nearly US$8 billion in 2024. Brazil remains Viet Nam's biggest trading partner in Latin America while Viet Nam is the top trading partner of Brazil in ASEAN.

The two leaders agreed to task relevant ministries and agencies to take measures to further promote bilateral trade and investment cooperation and to discuss possible launch of negotiations for a free trade agreement between Viet Nam and Mercosur.

President Lula informed that the Brazilian Government has decided to join the group of more than 70 countries that have recognized Viet Nam as a market economy.

The two leaders agreed to continue advancing cooperation in such potential areas as defense, security, science and technology, clean energy, education and training, culture, sports and people-to-people exchanges.

On multilateral cooperation, the two leaders briefed each other about the development visions of each country, voicing support for multilateral values and cooperation for mutual development.

The two leaders agreed to enhance coordination and mutual support at international organizations, multilateral and inter-regional forums and affirmed their support for the resolution of international disputes through peaceful measures on the basis of international law and the United Nations Charter.

On the occasion, President Luong and President Lula witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation agreements between the two countries. These documents include the plan of action to implement the Viet Nam-Brazil Strategic Partnership, the agreement on secret information exchange, and the memorandum of understanding on football cooperation./.