President Võ Văn Thưởng (left) had talks with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in San Francisco, US. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — President Võ Văn Thưởng met with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei in San Francisco on November 16 (local time) on the sidelines of the ongoing APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in the US city.

The two sides shared delight at the growth of the relations between Việt Nam and Brunei since the establishment of diplomatic relations 30 years ago and a comprehensive partnership in 2019.

President Thưởng held that there is plenty of room for the two countries to further deepen their partnership. He proposed that the two sides work closely together to implement the Action Programme to realise the bilateral comprehensive partnership in the 2023-27 period with four prioritised areas – oil and gas, chemicals, Halal product manufacturing and tourism and people-to-people exchange.

The Vietnamese leader took the occasion to invite Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah to visit Việt Nam at an appropriate time.

For his part, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah recalled his good memories during his visit to Việt Nam in 2019 and underlined that Brunei attaches great importance on all-round cooperation with Việt Nam.

He agreed with the Vietnamese leader’s proposals to further enhance the bilateral ties in the time to come.

Both sides affirmed that they will continue to coordinate closely at regional and international forums such as the UN and APEC, while maintaining solidarity and promoting the centrality of ASEAN, contributing to building the ASEAN Community of strong development, solidarity and self-reliance.

The two leaders also discussed a number of international and regional issues, including the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) matter. — VNS