President Lương Cường (first, left) at a banquet for APEC leaders, hosted by President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Lee Jae Myung on Thursday evening. — VNA/VNS Photo

SEOUL — President Lương Cường held brief meetings with the Prime Ministers of Japan and New Zealand, the heads of delegations from Papua New Guinea and Peru, and the Chief Executive of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the Republic of Korea on Friday afternoon (local time).

The meetings took place on the occasion of his attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting.

At these meetings, the leaders appreciated Việt Nam’s increasingly prominent role and status on the international stage and expressed their admiration for the country’s strong development in various fields, particularly socio-economic development and recent reforms and innovations.

All partners agreed to strengthen practical and effective bilateral relations with Việt Nam, prioritising areas of mutual advantage and demand, such as economy, trade, science and technology, digital transformation, green transition, and cooperation in addressing common issues like climate change, disaster prevention, food security, and cybersecurity.

Emphasising the need to enhance coordination in important multilateral mechanisms and forums, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and APEC, the leaders stated that all parties should seek balanced and sustainable solutions to promote economic, trade, and investment cooperation, jointly deal with common challenges, and contribute to an environment of peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world at large.

The heads of APEC delegations congratulated Việt Nam on being entrusted to host APEC for the third time in 2027 and affirmed that they would actively support and closely coordinate with Việt Nam to ensure the successful organisation of APEC 2027.

At his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, President Cường conveyed the congratulations of Việt Nam’s top leaders on her election as Prime Minister of Japan, expressing his belief that with her extensive experience, Sanae Takaichi will lead Japan to new achievements.

PM Takaichi Sanae thanked President Cường and other top leaders of Việt Nam for their good wishes, reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to strengthening and deepening its Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Việt Nam. She congratulated the country on its recent development achievements and reforms, and promised to arrange a visit to Việt Nam in the near future.

At President Cường’s meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, both leaders expressed their pleasure at witnessing the increasingly close, strong, and practical development of the Việt Nam–Malaysia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The Vietnamese President praised Malaysia’s efforts as ASEAN Chair in 2025, including the successful series of ASEAN 47 high-level events, which promoted the building of the ASEAN Community across the three pillars - politics-security, economy-trade, and socio-culture, and strengthened ASEAN’s central role in the region.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim affirmed that Malaysia considers Việt Nam one of its most important partners and will continue to prioritise the development of relations with Việt Nam.

In discussions with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, President Cường expressed his pleasure at the increasingly positive development of bilateral relations, especially following the recent upgrading of relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Prime Minister Luxon congratulated Việt Nam on its remarkable economic growth, ranking among the world’s highest-growing economies in 2025, and expressed a desire to closely cooperate with Việt Nam in 2026 when Việt Nam chairs the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Ministerial Council meeting to strengthen linkages with CPTPP partners.

Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Papua New Guinea delegation John Rosso, President Cường affirmed that Việt Nam always values and seeks to enhance friendship and cooperation with Papua New Guinea, and is ready to act as a bridge between ASEAN and the South Pacific Islands and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

Deputy Prime Minister Rosso expressed his desire to further strengthen cooperation with Việt Nam, especially in trade and investment, and through Việt Nam to promote cooperation with ASEAN.

In talks with the head of the Peruvian delegation, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Teresa Stella Mera Gomez, President Cường affirmed that Việt Nam treasures its friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Peru.

The Peruvian delegation expressed pleasure at the good development of bilateral relations, particularly following President Cường’s visit to Peru in 2024. Praising Viettel’s Bitel investment project, Minister Teresa expressed a desire for Vietnamese enterprises to increase investment in Peru and pledged to continue facilitating Bitel’s efficient operations in the country.

At the meeting with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region John Lee Ka-chiu, both sides highly valued the positive progress in Việt Nam–Hong Kong cooperation in recent years.

President Cường suggested effectively implementing commitments and agreements reached during Chief Executive Lee’s official visit to Việt Nam in July 2024 and sending a delegation to Việt Nam to exchange cooperation on financial centre development.

Lee expressed his confidence that bilateral relations would continue to develop substantively, especially in economic, trade, investment, financial, and tourism cooperation. He said Hong Kong is ready to host Vietnamese delegations for experience exchange and to send delegations to Việt Nam to support the development of financial centres.

In the evening, the RoK President and his spouse hosted a grand banquet to welcome APEC leaders attending the APEC meeting. — VNA/VNS