The two-day visit to Việt Nam, starting today, by Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to strengthen bilateral ties and tighten the Việt Nam-Myanmar partnership.— Photo Reuters

HÀ NỘI — The two-day visit to Việt Nam, starting today, by Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to strengthen bilateral ties and tighten the Việt Nam-Myanmar partnership. 

This is the first official visit to Việt Nam by Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also Myanmar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the President’s Office. 

The visit, made at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, takes place in a context of increased political trust and co-operation between the two nations.

She will be accompanied by Minister of Transport and Communications Thant Sin Maung, Minister of International Cooperation Kyaw Tin, Deputy Minister of the President’s Office Min Thu and Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance Sett Aung.

Việt Nam and Myanmar set up diplomatic ties on May 28, 1975, though the bilateral relationship was formed earlier.

In 1947, when fighting French colonialists, Việt Nam opened an information agency in Myanmar’s Yangon, which was elevated to a Governmental representative office in 1948. Myanmar’s Prime Minister U Nu visited Việt Nam in 1954, while Vietnamese President Hồ Chí Minh visited Myanmar in 1958. 

Despite its own difficulties, Myanmar supported Việt Nam during the struggle for national independence and reunification.

The two countries elevated their ties to a comprehensive co-operative partnership during a State visit to Myanmar by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Nguyễn Phú Trọng in August 2017. 

They have supported each other at sub-regional, regional and international forums such as the United Nations, ASEAN, Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Việt Nam co-operation, Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Co-operation Strategy (ACMECS) and the Greater Mekong Sub-region. 

Economic, trade and investment ties have been maintained in agriculture, fisheries, finance-banking, aviation, telecommunications, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, mining, power device production and automobile manufacturing and assembly. 

Bilateral trade hit US$828.3 million in 2017, up 51 per cent from 2016. Việt Nam is the seventh biggest foreign investor in Myanmar with 70 projects worth nearly $2 billion. 

During the visit to Myanmar by Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng in August 2017, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and Myanmar’s Ministry of Commerce signed a memorandum of understanding on trade co-operation. 

The two countries have regularly held meetings of the joint committee on bilateral co-operation and the joint sub-committee on trade. 

In addition, bilateral security and defence relations have been tightened. Based on a defence co-operation agreement signed in 2011, the two armies have sped up delegation exchanges and boosted co-operation in border management, and illegal migration and smuggling prevention. — VNS