Ambassador Ta Van Thong: Realizing the potential of Vietnam - Indonesia cooperation

At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his wife will pay a State visit to Indonesia from March 9-11. On this occasion, a reporter from the Vietnam News Agency in Jakarta interviewed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to Indonesia Ta Van Thong about the cooperative relationship between the two countries. The following is the content of the interview:

General Secretary and President To Lam received President-elect of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto on his visit and working visit to Vietnam ( Hanoi , September 13, 2024). Photo: Lam Khanh/VNA

Dear Ambassador, what is the significance of General Secretary To Lam 's state visit to Indonesia for the cooperative relationship between the two countries?

The State visit of General Secretary To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly to Indonesia is of great historical significance to the relationship between the two countries. General Secretary To Lam is the highest-ranking Party leader to visit Indonesia since the visit of the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to Indonesia in 2017.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi co-chaired the 5th meeting of the Vietnam-Indonesia Bilateral Cooperation Committee (Hanoi, April 24, 2024). Photo: Pham Kien/VNA

The visit takes place in the context of the strong, comprehensive and solid development of the Vietnam - Indonesia Strategic Partnership in all areas, from politics, diplomacy, security - defense to economy, tourism, culture and people-to-people exchange. Senior leaders of the two countries regularly visit each other and meet on the sidelines of multilateral conferences. The two countries established a Strategic Partnership during the visit of President Truong Tan Sang to Indonesia in 2013. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also visited Indonesia three times in 2021 and 2023 within the framework of the ASEAN Summits. On the Indonesian side, Indonesian President Joko Widodo paid two State visits to Vietnam in 2018 and 2024. Mr. Prabowo Subianto visited Vietnam in May 2022 as Minister of Defense and most recently in September 2024 as President-elect.

In terms of trade and economy, in ASEAN, Indonesia is currently Vietnam's third largest trading partner while Vietnam ranks fourth among Indonesia's major trading partners. Two-way trade turnover has maintained continuous growth, from 9 billion USD in 2019 to 16.7 billion USD in 2024. The leaders of the two countries have agreed to soon increase two-way trade turnover to 18 billion USD.

In that context, General Secretary To Lam's visit to Indonesia will be an important driving force for the two sides to further consolidate mutual understanding and political trust through high-level meetings and contacts, creating an important political foundation to enhance bilateral relations at the Party, Government, National Assembly, local and people-to-people channels.

The visit consistently demonstrates Vietnam's foreign policy of attaching great importance to the traditional friendship and strategic partnership with Indonesia; wishing to further deepen the existing good cooperation between the two countries; bringing the Vietnam - Indonesia relationship increasingly deeper, more substantial and effective, practically serving the interests of the people of the two countries and contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region. This event is also the beginning of a series of activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Vietnam - Indonesia diplomatic relations (December 30, 1955 - December 30, 2025).

Vietnamese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Indonesia Ta Van Thong. Photo: Dao Trang/VNA correspondent in Indonesia

With the determination to bring the bilateral relationship to a new height, it is expected that during the visit, the leaders of the two countries will discuss the strategic vision for developing bilateral relations, measures to further promote multifaceted cooperation, especially in new areas such as green energy, high-tech agriculture, cultural exchange cooperation, education, tourism development, etc. On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam and President Prabowo Subianto will discuss and approve the direction of cooperation between the two countries to realize the potential for cooperation in the coming time, witnessing the signing of cooperation documents in a number of specific areas.

Last year, trade turnover between the two countries reached an all-time high of more than 16 billion USD. So what do the two sides need to do to achieve the target of 18 billion USD by 2028, Ambassador?

Vietnam-Indonesia relations continue to achieve many positive results in all areas, in which trade and investment cooperation is a bright spot. In 2024, Indonesia had 123 investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 682.3 million USD, ranking 29th out of 143 countries investing in Vietnam. Indonesian corporations such as Ciputra, Traveloka, Vietmindo Energitama, Jafpa Comfeed Vietnam, Semen Indonesia Group, have a presence in Vietnam.

Ciputra Group (Indonesia) has implemented many projects in Vietnam, including early investment in Nam Thang Long Ciputra Hanoi Urban Area (in 1996) - the first large-scale real estate project in Vietnam, currently considered one of the most modern closed urban areas in Hanoi. Photo: Trong Dat/VNA

Meanwhile, Vietnamese corporations such as FPT, Vinfast, Era Blue, and Sunhouse are actively implementing business investment projects in Indonesia. In particular, 2024 witnessed significant achievements in trade and investment between the two countries, such as VietJet launching a direct flight connecting Hanoi and Jakarta, Vinfast Group establishing a $200 million factory in Subang, opening 20 new showrooms, and launching the SM Green taxi brand in Indonesia. Many businesses have built strong Vietnamese brands in consumption and cuisine, such as Dien May Xanh with more than 100 stores, and Saigon Caphe owning dozens of restaurants in Indonesia.

VinFast Auto starts construction of electric vehicle assembly plant project in Subang, West Java, Indonesia. The VinFast plant is expected to be operational from the fourth quarter of 2025, producing right-hand drive VF 3, VF 5, VF 6 and VF 7 models for the Indonesian market (July 15, 2024). Photo: Dao Trang/VNA

Green and Smart Mobility Joint Stock Company (GSM) officially launched the Green SM electric taxi service in Indonesia. This is the third country with the presence of Green SM after Vietnam and Laos (December 18, 2024). Photo: Dao Trang/VNA

Vietnam and Indonesia are both rapidly developing economies. Indonesia has the 16th largest economy in the world, is the largest market in Southeast Asia, and is among the 10 largest manufacturing countries in the world. Vietnam has also achieved significant economic achievements in recent times, especially in expanding exports, increasing GDP growth, and controlling inflation. The two countries possess strategic strengths that complement each other and need to be grasped to exploit cooperation opportunities and remove difficulties and obstacles. Thereby, businesses of the two countries will have more favorable conditions to best access each other's markets, especially in new areas of cooperation with much room for growth such as Halal industry, digital economy, green economy, green transformation, and electric vehicle ecosystem development.

Booths promoting typical Indonesian products at the “Can Tho – Indonesia Investment Cooperation and Trade Connection” Workshop. Photo: Anh Tuyet/VNA

With a solid foundation of relations and continuous efforts in exploiting the potential of both sides, I believe that the two countries can achieve the goal of bringing bilateral trade turnover to 18 billion USD by 2028.

According to the Ambassador, how meaningful are local cooperation activities and people-to-people exchanges between Vietnam and Indonesia in enhancing understanding between the people of the two countries and promoting cooperation between the two sides?

People-to-people exchanges have made significant progress in recent times, playing a positive role, being an effective bridge to help promote understanding between the people of the two countries, contributing to the development of comprehensive relations between Vietnam and Indonesia. Notably, tourism has grown strongly after Vietnam Airlines and VietJet Air opened direct flights connecting destinations between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta, Bali. The number of Indonesian visitors to Vietnam in one year has tripled, reaching over 120,000 in 2024. This is an encouraging result for the two countries to continue to promote their tourism potential, cooperate and complement each other through tourism linkage products, promote and enhance understanding of each other's history, traditions and culture.

Opening ceremony of Ho Chi Minh City - Bali flight route, connecting Vietnam's largest city and Indonesia's famous tourist destination (May 29, 2019). Photo: VNA

In addition, enhancing cultural and culinary exchanges and educational cooperation also plays an important role, through activities such as exchanging art troupes, mass and local associations, developing brands of Vietnamese products... In the coming time, the two sides will also consider promoting Indonesia to become one of the more popular destinations for Vietnamese students in Southeast Asia, granting scholarships for students from both sides to study and work in each country.

In addition to bilateral relations, Vietnam and Indonesia are both active members of ASEAN, so how do the two countries plan to cooperate within the ASEAN framework to promote common regional goals?

Promoting the traditional, friendly and close relationship, Vietnam and Indonesia are both active members of ASEAN and have a certain role and position in ASEAN. The two countries attach importance to cooperation within the framework of ASEAN through enhancing unity and coordination between the two countries at multilateral organizations and forums, contributing to consolidating solidarity and the central role of ASEAN, maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region as well as in the world; continuing to promote exchanges and contacts at high and all levels; maintaining and promoting the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms; coordinating policies according to the priorities and concerns of the two countries in the region. The two countries also actively coordinate to implement each country's agenda during Indonesia's term as ASEAN Chair in 2023 and Vietnam's tenure in 2020. Indonesia also highly appreciates Vietnam's initiative in organizing the ASEAN Future Forum.

2025 is also the 30th anniversary of Vietnam's accession to ASEAN (1995-2025). On this occasion, within the framework of General Secretary To Lam's visit to Indonesia, a number of activities are expected to celebrate this important event, demonstrating Vietnam's consistent policy of attaching importance to cooperation within ASEAN in general and bilateral cooperation within ASEAN in particular.

Thank you very much Ambassador!

Rhododendron (Vietnam News Agency)

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/dai-su-ta-van-thong-hien-thuc-hoa-tiem-nang-hop-tac-viet-nam-indonesia-20250308083722541.htm