General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President Tô Lâm meets with President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta in Singapore on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo

SINGAPORE — General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President Tô Lâm met with President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta in Singapore on Friday.

Party General Secretary and President Tô Lâm congratulated Timor-Leste on its official membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), saying this marks a milestone for Timor-Leste as well as for ASEAN’s development process, opening a new phase of deeper cooperation and connectivity between Timor-Leste and countries in the region.

The leader stressed that Việt Nam always attaches importance to its friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Timor-Leste, and stands ready to continue sharing experience in development and international integration while closely coordinating with Timor-Leste within ASEAN.

For his part, President Ramos-Horta congratulated Party General Secretary Lâm on his election as President, and expressed his admiration for Việt Nam’s strong development achievements in recent years as well as its growing role and stature in the region and the world.

The President affirmed that Việt Nam has always been a close friend and trusted partner of Timor-Leste, noting his hope that Việt Nam will continue sharing experience in socio-economic development, institution building, human resources training, and international integration.

The leader expressed his sincere gratitude to Việt Nam for its valuable and wholehearted support throughout Timor-Leste’s accession to ASEAN.

Both leaders expressed their satisfaction with the positive progress in relations between Việt Nam and Timor-Leste in recent years, particularly the regular exchange of delegations and contacts at all levels, which has helped strengthen political trust and expand cooperation across various fields.

They noted that cooperation in economy, trade, investment, agriculture, telecommunications, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges has continued to record positive results, laying a favourable foundation for bilateral ties to develop in a more substantive and effective manner in the new period.

President Ramos-Horta appreciated Việt Nam’s launch of its embassy in Dili in April 2026, describing it as an important milestone that will provide fresh momentum for bilateral ties while facilitating stronger exchanges, connectivity, and the effective implementation of specific cooperation programmes.

Discussing directions for future cooperation, the leaders agreed to continue promoting exchanges of delegations and contacts at the high level; enhance the effectiveness of Party, State and legislature cooperation channels, as well as people-to-people exchanges; effectively implement reached agreements; and step up the sharing of experience in governance, development and international integration.

The two sides agreed to expand cooperation in areas where Việt Nam has strengths and Timor-Leste has strong demand, including telecommunications, digital transformation, agriculture, energy, education and training, and the development of high-quality human resources.

The leaders held that strengthening connectivity among businesses, localities and people of the two countries would help broaden substantive cooperation while supporting Timor-Leste in enhancing its capacity to participate in and effectively contribute to the cooperative processes of ASEAN.

Exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, the two leaders agreed to strengthen consultations and coordination at ASEAN, the United Nations and other multilateral mechanisms, while working with other ASEAN member states to reinforce solidarity, enhance intra-bloc connectivity, and uphold ASEAN’s centrality amid increasingly complex regional and international developments.

The leaders highly valued the trust, sincerity and mutual support that the two countries have cultivated in recent years, agreeing to continue close coordination to advance Việt Nam–Timor-Leste relations in a more substantive and effective manner, thereby contributing positively to peace, stability, cooperation and sustainable development in the region.

On this occasion Party General Secretary and President Lâm extended thanks to Prime Minister of Timor-Leste Xanana Gusmão for accepting the invitation to attend and deliver a speech at the ASEAN Future Forum 2026 to be held in Việt Nam in June 2026.

Party General Secretary and President Lâm is in Singapore for a state visit from May 29–31, during which he attended and delivered a keynote address at Shangri-La Dialogue on May 29 at the invitation of Bastian Giegerich, Director-General and Chief Executive of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). — VNA/VNS