Bhutanese people respect President Ho Chi Minh and admire Vietnam's 80-year achievements.

That was the affirmation of Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck during his meeting with President Luong Cuong this morning, August 19.

President Luong Cuong presided over the official welcoming ceremony for King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

On the morning of August 19, at the Presidential Palace, President Luong Cuong and his wife hosted a solemn welcoming ceremony for Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the Queen and the high-ranking Bhutanese delegation. Immediately after the state-level welcoming ceremony, President Luong Cuong and the King of Bhutan held talks.

In an atmosphere of openness, sincerity, trust and mutual understanding, President Luong Cuong warmly welcomed the King of Bhutan to Vietnam, affirming that this is the first visit by a Bhutanese head of state to Vietnam since the establishment of diplomatic relations (January 2012) and taking place on the occasion of Vietnam's 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day (September 2), which has special significance, opening a new page for the relationship between the two countries.

The President congratulated Bhutan on its sustainable development achievements under the wise leadership of the King, and highly appreciated Bhutan's unique development model, using the Gross National Happiness Index as a measure, in which people, nature, culture and people's happiness are promoted in a balanced and harmonious manner, placing people at the center of development, valuing cultural identity and preserving the living environment.

President Luong Cuong and King Jigme agreed that the friendship between Vietnam and the Kingdom of Bhutan is nurtured by warm friendship, common spiritual values, and vision and philosophy of sustainable development. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

The King of Bhutan sincerely thanked the Party, State and people of Vietnam for the warm and respectful welcome given to the King and Queen, as well as the high-ranking delegation of Bhutan; expressing his joy at visiting Vietnam for the first time, the King said that the people of Bhutan respect President Ho Chi Minh and admire Vietnam's great achievements during the 80 years of fighting for national independence and development.

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck expressed his firm belief that Vietnam will achieve its sustainable development goals, and expressed his desire to study and learn from Vietnam's governance model and economic development experience; affirmed that Bhutan values Vietnam's role and position in the Asia-Pacific region and wishes to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in areas where both sides have strengths and potential for the benefit of the people of the two countries, for peace, stability, cooperation and prosperity in the region and the world.

President Luong Cuong and King Jigme agreed that the friendship between Vietnam and the Kingdom of Bhutan is nurtured by warm friendship, common spiritual values, vision and philosophy of sustainable development.

In that spirit, the two sides agreed to continuously strengthen friendship and mutual understanding, promote more frequent high-level visits and promote the signing of cooperation agreements to create a favorable framework for implementing specific projects and activities.

President Luong Cuong highly appreciated Bhutan's unique development model, using the Gross National Happiness Index as a measure. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

Emphasizing that the potential for economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries is still very large, President Luong Cuong and King Jigme agreed to encourage agencies, ministries and businesses of the two countries to promote cooperation, facilitate opening for the strong goods of one country to access the other's market, towards diversifying the supply chain, striving to increase trade turnover many times in the coming time.

In addition, the two sides agreed to further expand cooperation in important areas such as agriculture, science and technology, innovation, education, training, culture and arts; encourage airlines of the two countries to soon consider opening direct flights to promote cultural, religious, tourism and people-to-people exchanges; share experiences in honoring the traditional cultural heritage of each country; and expand cooperation in new areas towards sustainable development, in order to improve the material and spiritual life of the people.

President Luong Cuong and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation documents. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

In the context of complex changes in the world and the region, the two leaders expressed their delight at the fact that the two countries share many similar views at international forums, especially on issues of sustainable development, climate change response, nature conservation and peacekeeping; emphasizing that they will continue to coordinate and support each other at international and regional organizations, especially at the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement as well as on issues of mutual concern.

President Luong Cuong welcomed Bhutan's expansion of relations and substantive cooperation and is ready to create conditions to enhance connectivity with Southeast Asian countries and ASEAN.

After the talks, President Luong Cuong and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan witnessed the signing of two cooperation documents: a framework document on cooperation between the two governments and a document on cooperation in the aviation sector.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nhan-dan-bhutan-kinh-trong-chu-chair-ho-chi-minh-nguong-mo-thanh-tuu-80-nam-cua-viet-nam-324917.html