Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s official visit to Indonesia from August 22-24 will help consolidate friendship and boost co-operation, deepening the two countries’ strategic partnership. — VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

HÀ NỘI – Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s official visit to Indonesia from August 22-24 will help consolidate friendship and boost co-operation, deepening the two countries’ strategic partnership. 
Deputy head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Nguyễn Huy Tăng said this is a historic visit as it is the first visit made by a Party chief to Indonesia since late President Hồ Chí Minh’s visit in 1959, and the first visit made by a top Vietnamese leader since the two nations established a strategic partnership in June 2013. 
The trip also aims to reaffirm Viet Nam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, co-operation and development, and attaching importance to relations with neighbours and partners in ASEAN, he added. 
Việt Nam and Indonesia established diplomatic ties on December 30, 1955. Việt Nam is the only ASEAN country Indonesia has a strategic partnership with. 
They have inked numerous co-operation deals, including memoranda of understanding on co-operation in fisheries and sea-related issues, agriculture and finance. Various co-operative mechanisms have also been established, including the bilateral co-operation committee at the foreign ministerial level, and a joint committee on economic co-operation. 
In recent years, two-way trade has grown well. Import-export turnover increased from US$4.6 billion in 2012 to US$5.6 billion in 2016 with average growth of five per cent. The two countries are striving for $10 billion in bilateral trade by 2018. 
As of April, Indonesia ranked fifth in ASEAN and 30th among the 105 nations and territories investing in Việt Nam, with 59 projects, mainly in oil and gas exploration and exploitation, coal mining, banking and timber processing. Việt Nam has seven projects involving mining, retailing, repair and communication in Indonesia. 
The two countries are also stepping up collaboration in defence and security by maintaining a joint naval working group and establishing a hotline to share information on search and rescue activities. — VNS