Consolidating a solid and long-term foundation for the strong development of Vietnam relations

On the afternoon of November 23, General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with the high-ranking delegation of the Party and State of Vietnam, arrived at Noi Bai Airport ( Hanoi ), successfully concluding the official visit to Malaysia from November 21-23, 2024, at the invitation of the Malaysian Prime Minister and his wife.

Head of the Central External Relations Commission Le Hoai Trung answers questions from the press. Photo: Phuong Hoa/VNA

On this occasion, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Head of the Party Central Committee's External Relations Commission Le Hoai Trung gave an interview on the results of General Secretary To Lam 's official visit to Malaysia. The following is the content of the interview.

At the invitation of the Prime Minister of Malaysia and his wife, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his wife, along with a high-ranking delegation of the Party and State of Vietnam, paid an official visit to Malaysia from November 21 to 23, 2024. Could you please tell us the main results of the visit?

General Secretary To Lam’s visit to Malaysia was a great success, achieving profound and substantive results. This was the first visit in his new position to a Southeast Asian country, inheriting and promoting our policy over the past 50 years of valuing the traditional friendship with Malaysia.

The Malaysian Government and leaders welcomed General Secretary To Lam, his wife and the delegation with great respect, with warm feelings, trust, and exceptional protocol, as demonstrated by the organization of a solemn welcoming ceremony for General Secretary To Lam, his wife and the delegation at the Prime Minister's Palace, arranging for nearly 50 heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Malaysia to attend the welcoming ceremony, hanging flags and photos of the General Secretary and his wife on main streets. That shows that you truly respect the Party, State, people of Vietnam and General Secretary To Lam personally.

During the two-day visit, General Secretary To Lam, his wife and the delegation had 18 important activities, including narrow and broad talks, meetings with Malaysian leaders, including Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Deputy Prime Minister - President of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO); visited the National Data Center, the Malaysian national oil and gas corporation Petronas, received leaders of several large corporations, and met with representatives of overseas Vietnamese from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

General Secretary To Lam delivered an important policy speech at the University of Malaya - the oldest and most prestigious university, the cradle of many famous politicians and personalities of Malaysia, sharing his vision for the next stage in Vietnam - Malaysia relations and the vision of a prosperous, united and developed ASEAN Community, while affirming Vietnam's respect for ASEAN. The wife of General Secretary To Lam and the wife of the Malaysian Prime Minister had a close discussion on the development of women in the two countries.

General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim agreed to upgrade the Vietnam-Malaysia relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and issued a Joint Statement on this, affirming their commitment to supporting each other on each country's development path. Vietnam and Malaysia are currently each other's only comprehensive strategic partners in the Southeast Asian region. The establishment of this framework has helped create an important foundation and direction for bilateral cooperation in the new period, with four main pillars: promoting political, defense and security cooperation; enhancing economic connectivity towards sustainable development; opening up cooperation in new areas such as digital transformation, clean energy, new technology, as well as helping to strengthen coordination on international and multilateral issues.

The two sides also discussed the situation in each country, bilateral relations and the international situation; agreed that Vietnam and Malaysia share many similarities in history, culture, goals and development cooperation; thereby enhancing mutual understanding, consolidating political trust between the two countries, promoting cooperation between our Party and major political parties in Malaysia. The two sides agreed to coordinate to build a united, cohesive and prosperous ASEAN Community. General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam actively supports Malaysia in successfully fulfilling its role as ASEAN Chair in 2025.

The Malaysian leaders expressed their deep affection for President Ho Chi Minh, their admiration for Vietnam's struggle for national independence, and their admiration for Vietnam's overcoming post-war difficulties and rising to achieve important socio-economic achievements. General Secretary To Lam highly appreciated Malaysia's impressive development results in recent years and the implementation of the comprehensive development strategy in the new period under the leadership of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. General Secretary To Lam also discussed the country's development goals and the main orientations of the new era, the era of the Vietnamese people's rise.

During the visit, the two leaders also affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, security, stability, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, not using or threatening to use force, and resolving disputes by peaceful means in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

Malaysian press is very interested in the visit, especially the two countries upgrading their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, affirming that it is a significant step forward in bilateral relations.

The results of the visit are of great significance for the two sides to continue promoting cooperation potential, taking advantage of each other's strengths; contributing to consolidating a peaceful and favorable environment for the new development stage of the country and the region.

Could you please tell us the direction for the coming time to promote the important results of the visit?

With the profound and substantial results of the visit, especially the upgrading of the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, the first task of the relevant agencies of the two countries is to promptly implement the concretization of the new relationship framework, urgently develop a comprehensive Action Plan to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; review and promote necessary cooperation agreements to create an effective cooperation mechanism.

Second, on the basis of that Plan, relevant ministries and branches will soon develop specific programs; continue to promote traditional areas of cooperation, while paying special attention to new contents and new areas, such as green economy, innovation, science and technology, digital transformation, green energy, etc.

Third, it is indispensable that relevant agencies periodically review, urge and inspect the implementation of those plans and programs, so that the agreements can truly come to life, promote effectiveness and best serve the development goals of the two countries in the new period.

Fourth, and also very importantly, the leaders of the government as well as major political parties and the Malaysian ruling coalition have all shown particularly good feelings towards the country, the people of Vietnam and General Secretary To Lam. I hope that the two sides will continue to increase exchanges, sharing and communication on state, party and people channels, to continuously nurture and develop those feelings, consolidating a solid and long-term foundation for the strong development of bilateral relations in the new period.

Thank you very much, comrade!

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/cung-co-nen-tang-vung-chac-lau-dai-cho-su-phat-trien-manh-me-quan-he-viet-nam-malaysia-383583.html