Viet Nam, Philippines issue joint press statement

VIET NAM – PHILIPPINES JOINT PRESS STATEMENT

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1. At the invitation of H.E. Mr. Vo Van Thuong, President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, H.E. Mr. Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., President of the Republic of the Philippines, paid a State-visit to Viet Nam from 29 - 30 January, 2024. 

2. During the visit, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. was accorded an official welcoming ceremony, and held bilateral talks with President Vo Van Thuong. The President of the Philippines also paid courtesy calls on H.E. Mr. Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of Viet Nam, and H.E. Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue, President of the National Assembly of Viet Nam. 

3. At their talks, both Leaders highly valued the strong and substantive development of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries. Given the many similarities in views and interests of both countries, they agreed to further strengthen and develop the partnership in a deeper and more comprehensive manner ahead of key milestones of the 10^th anniversary of Viet Nam – Philippines Strategic Partnership in 2025 and the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2026. 

4. The two Presidents agreed to enhance political trust, friendship and comprehensive cooperation through holding regular high-level engagements and visits at all levels through Party, State, Government and parliamentary channels as well as people-to-people exchanges. They committed to uphold established bilateral cooperation mechanisms and implement effectively the instruments signed between the two countries to enhance mutual understanding and trust. 

5. The Leaders agreed to deepen economic relations and encourage joint initiatives between the two countries. They emphasized the importance of increasing the volume of two-way trade and investment, including through leveraging on the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in promoting more integrated supply chains among companies from the two economies.

6. Both sides agreed to work closely on creating favourable conditions for smooth trade flows in order to achieve the trade target of USD 10 billion at the earliest, as well as enhancing the business environment to make it more conducive to invest in sectors of interest to both countries. They also discussed promising cooperation in areas such as agriculture, particularly in rice trading, market access for agricultural products, food security, energy security, infrastructure development, education, transportation management, innovation, tourism, connectivity, science and technology, and environmental protection, among others.  Both sides took note of strong security and defence cooperation, which contributes to enhancing the strategic cooperation between Viet Nam and the Philippines. In this regard, both Presidents agreed to: (i) continue high-level visits, information sharing, education and training exchanges, and defense dialogue mechanisms; (ii) further enhance collaboration on defense industry, as well as cooperation on military medicine, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations, maritime and aviation security, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, peacekeeping operations, among others; (iii) intensify law enforcement cooperation against transnational crimes, including those related to migrant smuggling, human trafficking, gambling, underground and illegal credit facilities, illegal residence and labour as well as other traditional and non-traditional security concerns, and called on concerned officials to build on each other's expertise and experience. 

7. The two Leaders agreed to strengthen existing maritime cooperation mechanisms, notably the Joint Commission on Maritime and Ocean Affairs at the Deputy-Minister level, the hotline communication mechanism between coast guard authorities of both countries, among others, and to adopt other measures to ensure the safety and security of fishermen from both countries as well as to solve amicably the unexpected incidents at sea. 

8. The Leaders emphasized the importance of enhancing cooperation in education, culture, tourism, healthcare, people-to-people exchanges, cooperation between localities, and promoting the role of each other's friendship organizations in order to strengthen their people's bond, increase mutual understanding, boost connectivity, enrich cultural diversity and promote the overall relations.

9. The Leaders exchanged views on a wide range of sub-regional, regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the situation in Myanmar and the South China Sea. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to upholding peace, stability, and prosperity in the region, including advancing ASEAN community building efforts through the full and effective implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the ASEAN Community's Vision 2045, supporting the sub-region cooperation, including Mekong cooperation mechanisms and BIMP-EAGA. Towards this end, the two Presidents welcomed the effective cooperation between Viet Nam and the Philippines within the ASEAN and agreed to enhance cooperation, coordination, and consultation with one another to respond effectively to regional and international issues of mutual concern in a timely manner, thus, further contributing to the consolidation of ASEAN's solidarity, centrality and pivotal role in ASEAN-led mechanisms and processes. 

10. Both Presidents appreciated the close coordination, consultation and mutual support, including on each other's candidacy bids, within international organizations and multilateral frameworks, particularly in the United Nations (UN), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). 

11. Both Presidents emphasized the importance of maintaining peace, stability, maritime security, safety, and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea. They called for exercise of self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect regional peace and stability, and avoidance of unilateral acts that can change the status quo and increase tensions, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes without resorting to the threat or use of force in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS). They reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the full and effective implementation of the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in its entirety and working towards the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) that is in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS. In this regard, they urged the promotion of an environment that is conducive to the COC negotiations. 

12. During the visit, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. and President Vo Van Thuong also witnessed the exchange of bilateral documents in various fields including the MOU on Rice Trade Cooperation, Understanding on Incident Prevention and Management in the South China Sea, MOU on Cooperation in Agriculture and related fields, Programme on Cultural Cooperation for the period 2024 – 2029, and the MOU on Maritime Cooperation. 

13. President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. highly appreciated the warm welcome and kind hospitality extended to the Philippine delegation by the Leaders and the people of Viet Nam during his visit. The President of the Philippines further invited the Leaders of Viet Nam to visit the Philippines at a mutually convenient time./.