JAKARTA — Vietnamese Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh attended the inauguration of Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin for the 2019-24 tenure in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday.

During separate meetings with the President and Vice President following the ceremony, Thịnh relayed letters of congratulations from Party General Secretary and President Nguyễn Phú Trọng and Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc to Widodo, in which they expressed their belief that the new Indonesian government would reap great successes towards realising the Vision 2045 with the aim of turning the country into the world’s fifth largest economy after 100 years of independence.

The Indonesian leaders congratulated Việt Nam on its socio-economic and global integration achievements, including its election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-21 tenure and preparations to assume its role as ASEAN Chair 2020.

Vietnamese Vice President Thịnh suggested both sides bolster economic ties in order to raise annual two-way trade to US$10 billion, and enhance partnerships in agriculture, education – training, tourism, aviation, people-to-people exchanges, fighting illegal fishing and resolving settlements regarding fishing vessels and fishermen in a friendly and humanitarian spirit.

The Vietnamese VP also spoke highly of Indonesia’s increasingly important role in the region and the world.

Regarding regional and global issues of shared concern, the Vietnamese and Indonesian leaders highlighted the importance of regional peace and stability to security and development of each nation as well as the ASEAN Community.

The two sides agreed to work closely together at multilateral forums, especially when Việt Nam becomes ASEAN Chair and both countries are non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council next year.

On recent developments in the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea), Thịnh asked Indonesia to continue supporting Việt Nam’s legitimate stance and objections to violations of sovereignty and international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and to step up the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and negotiations to reach an effective and practical Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in line with international law.

The two leaders expressed their satisfaction at the strong development of the Việt Nam-Indonesia strategic partnership and the deployment of the action programme for 2019-23. They also hailed celebrations of the 60th anniversary of historic visits by late Presidents Sukarno and Hồ Chí Minh, and preparations for the 65th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties next year.

On the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony, Thịnh held brief meetings with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad, Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong, Australian PM Scott Morrison, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, Myanmar Vice President Henry Van Thio, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Lopez Locsin, US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, Chief of Staff to the South Korean President Noh Young-min and Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Norihiro Nakayama.

In the morning of the same day, Thịnh visited the Vietnamese embassy’s staff, the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to ASEAN, and overseas Vietnamese in Indonesia. — VNS