Phl, Vietnam eye strategic partnership

Vietnam’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Dang Minh Khoi said there are no issues in which the Philippines and Vietnam cannot support each other as the two countries are upgrading their relationship with the imminent signing of the Joint Statement on the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership Agreement in November.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Evan Garcia headed the Philippine delegation to meet with Vietnam counterparts on Sept. 14 for the Senior Officials Meetings (SOM) of the 8th Philippines-Viet Nam Joint Commission on Bilateral Relations (JCBC) and the 2nd Philippines-Vietnam Joint Commission on Maritime and Ocean Concerns (JCMOC) held in the capital city of Hanoi.

The Vietnam delegation was headed by Vice Minister Khoi.

The SOM-level meeting for the 8th JCBC is in preparation for the Ministerial Meeting slated in October 2015 between Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh.

The SOM- level meeting of the 8th JCBC took into consideration the growth of the bilateral relations between the two countries over the past four decades and provided direction for future cooperation.

Among the highlights of the meeting were discussions of the imminent signing of the Joint Statement on the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership Agreement between the Philippines and Vietnam.

Vietnamese Ambassador Truong Trieu Duong said in an interview in July that the Philippines and Vietnam are in the final stages in the negotiation for a strategic partnership as both countries are eyeing to sign the agreement on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Manila in November.

The DFA said the Philippines-Vietnam strategic partnership is a comprehensive partnership not only anchored on South China Sea issue but also covers many other areas of cooperation between the two countries.

The Philippines and Vietnam agreed to forge strategic partnership amid their territorial disputes with China.