Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn meets Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on Wednesday in Jakarta. — Photo courtesy of the ministry

JAKARTA — Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn on Wednesday paid a courtesy call to Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta.

President Joko Widodo welcomed the visit of Minister Sơn to co-chair the fourth meeting of the Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC-4) with Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in the context that the two countries have just reopened, demonstrating their determination to promote the Việt Nam-Indonesia strategic partnership, especially when the two sides are set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of this partnership in 2023.

The President of Indonesia also congratulated Việt Nam on its important achievements in pandemic control and regaining the momentum of rapid socio-economic development, and especially the hosting of the 31st SEA Games in May.

The Vietnamese diplomat thanked and conveyed to President Joko Widodo the greetings of Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, State President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and other senior Vietnamese leaders; reaffirming Việt Nam’s consistent view that it always attaches importance to and wishes to further develop the Strategic Partnership with Indonesia.

Việt Nam also expressed confidence that Indonesia will successfully fulfil the role of G20 President, implement the "Indonesia Vision 2045" and become a developed country by the 100th anniversary of its independence in 2045.

Minister Sơn said that at the JCBC-4 meeting, he would work with Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi to review what the two sides have been doing to date, difficulties and problems that need to be resolved since JCBC-3 held in Hà Nội in 2018, as well as proposing directions to strengthen cooperation at both bilateral and multilateral levels in order to effectively carry out the Action Programme to implement the Strategic Partnership between the two countries for the 2019-23 period.

Minister Sơn expressed his wish that the President of Indonesia would support the two sides in promoting the exchange of delegations and contacts at all levels; reducing barriers and promoting trade in a more balanced direction; signing at the earliest time a Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral rice cooperation for the next four years; removing obstacles and creating favourable conditions for businesses of the two countries to expand investment, especially in fields of fisheries, high technology, and digital economy; providing technical support for and facilitating the imports of Halal products of Vietnamese origin into the Indonesian market.

He also asked the Indonesian authorities to increase the frequency of flights and consider opening new routes connecting popular tourist destinations between the two countries; continue to closely coordinate to effectively deal with issues arising at sea.

Minister Sơn also highly appreciated the cooperation relationship between the two countries at regional and international forums, and affirmed that Việt Nam is supportive of Indonesia in its role as ASEAN Chair in 2023.

Expressing his delight at the increasingly strong and extensive development of the bilateral cooperation relationship between Việt Nam and Indonesia, President Joko Widodo suggested that the two sides build an action plan to develop strategic cooperation for the 2024-28 period, moving towards the goal of having bilateral trade hit US$15 billion by 2028; continue to promote economic cooperation, trade, investment, and people-to-people exchanges.

The President of Indonesia has also conveyed his greetings to the Vietnamese leaders. — VNS