Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình (r) receives Myanmar Minister of Border Affairs Ye Aung in Hà Nội on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI – Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình hosted a reception in Hà Nội on Tuesday for Myanmar Minister of Border Affairs Ye Aung, who is on a working visit to Việt Nam to enhance co-operation in ethnic affairs. 

Deputy PM Bình noted the two countries’ similarities in culture, religion, history and geo-political position in Southeast Asia and their wish to promote solidarity and unanimity in the region. The foundation for their ties, laid by late President Hồ Chí Minh and leader Aung San on the basis of those similarities, created prerequisites for the comprehensive cooperative partnership in the present. 
Việt Nam always treasures its traditional friendship with Myanmar and wants to enhance bilateral co-operation in all aspects, according to Bình. 
He highly valued the socio-economic attainments that the Myanmar Government had gained, voicing his belief that the country’s national reconciliation and harmonisation would be successful. 
Policies on national unity, religion and caring for ethnic groups of Việt Nam had been increasingly perfected and proved effective, thereby promoting development and social progress so as to build a socialist Việt Nam with wealthy people, strong country, and democratic, equal and civilised society, he noted. 
The host official applauded the rapid and strong progress in the two countries’ relations, particularly the elevation of their ties to a comprehensive cooperative partnership during a State visit to Myanmar by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Nguyễn Phú Trọng in August 2017. 
Bilateral trade reached US$828.3 million in 2017, up 51 per cent from 2016. Việt Nam had become the 7th biggest foreign investor in Myanmar with 70 projects worth nearly $2 billion, he said, adding that these were important pre-conditions for expanding co-operation in the years to come. 
For his part, Minister Ye Aung said Việt Nam and Myanmar boasted time-honoured relations which had been consistently upgraded. They had partnered with each other in various fields such as economy, culture, defence and security. 
He informed his host about the outcomes of his delegation’s working visit to Việt Nam, which aims to bolster cooperation in ethnic work. He added they gained much experience in the field from Việt Nam. 
He also expressed his hope that the co-operation between the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs of the Vietnamese Government and the Myanmar Ministry of Border Affairs, as well as the two countries’ diplomatic connections would continue to flourish in the future. — VNS