Party General Secretary Tô Lâm (right) greets President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary Tô Lâm on Tuesday welcomed President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta to Việt Nam, as the President arrived to attend the second ASEAN Future Forum in Hà Nội taking place from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Party General Secretary Lâm warmly greeted the President of Timor-Leste after his State-level visit in August last year.

His visit comes as Việt Nam has successfully completed many development goals of the 13th National Party Congress and is preparing for the 14th National Congress, bringing the country into a new era to become a developed, high-income country in 2045.

The Party General Secretary congratulated Timor-Leste for the country’s many important achievements in socio-economic development.

He believed that Timor-Leste would soon implement its 'Strategic Development Plan for the 2011-2030 period', with determination to build a democratic country, actively integrating into the region and the world.

President José Ramos-Horta expressed his admiration for the national construction and development by Vietnamese leaders and people.

He said he considered Việt Nam a development model, confirming that Timor-Leste valued ​​and wished to further promote its good friendship with Việt Nam.

The two leaders showed satisfaction with the results of President José Ramos-Horta's State-level visit last year, as bilateral trade turnover in 2024 increased by 21.4 per cent compared to 2023, visa exemption agreements for diplomatic and official passport holders took effect and as the investment and business activities of the Viettel Military Industry – Telecommunications Group in Timor-Leste (Telemor) made positive contributions to the economic and social development of Timor-Leste.

Discussing goals for cooperation in the future, the two sides agreed to increase exchanges and contacts at all levels and to work towards establishing new bilateral mechanisms suitable to the cooperation needs between the two countries.

The two leaders agreed to effectively exploit cooperation potential in other important fields, especially agriculture, fisheries, food processing, seafood, telecommunications, education, oil and gas, infrastructure construction, aviation, energy, education, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

Thanking Party General Secretary Lâm for sharing his valuable experience in Việt Nam's development and international integration, President José Ramos-Horta agreed to closely work together to create new opportunities in economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides would expand joint work in promising areas such as investment, finance, agriculture and infrastructure construction, including industrial parks, airports, seaports, tourism, information and communications.

President José Ramos-Horta thanked Việt Nam and said he hoped it would continue to share experiences and support Timor-Leste in developing a skilled workforce, ensuring food security and reducing poverty.

The two leaders agreed to strengthen collaboration and support each other at international and regional forums.

Party General Secretary Tô Lâm said he highly appreciated Timor-Leste's determination and efforts in implementing the roadmap for the country to become a full member of ASEAN, confirming that Việt Nam would continue to support Timor-Leste along its path.

President José Ramos-Horta said that Timor-Leste fully agreed with Việt Nam's candidacy in multilateral mechanisms, including in United Nations agencies. — VNS