Vietnam - Malaysia relations develop strongly in the new period

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.

Photo caption — General Secretary To Lam and his wife with the Malaysian Prime Minister and his wife. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

This is the first visit by a General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam to Malaysia in 30 years, so the visit was highly valued by both sides, and was carefully arranged and prepared in terms of both program and content. Upgrading relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership During the two-day visit, the Malaysian Government and leaders welcomed the General Secretary, his wife and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation with great respect, warmth and trust. This was demonstrated by the organization of a solemn welcoming ceremony for the General Secretary, his wife and the delegation at the Prime Minister's Office, arranging for nearly 50 heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Malaysia to attend the welcoming ceremony, hanging flags and photos of General Secretary To Lam and his wife on main streets; showing that you really respect the Party, State, people of Vietnam and General Secretary To Lam personally. Within the framework of the visit, General Secretary To Lam held talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim; met with Speaker of the House of Representatives Tan Sri Dato' Dr Johari bin Abdul, President of the Senate Dato' Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah; received Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Rural Development, President of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) Dato' Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi; met with prominent overseas Vietnamese representatives in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries; met with the Vietnamese community in Malaysia and visited a number of economic and cultural centers in Malaysia; visited and spoke at the National University of Malaya; visited the National Data Center; visited Petronas Group... On this occasion, the wife of General Secretary To Lam and the wife of the Malaysian Prime Minister had a close exchange on the development of women in the two countries. The wife of General Secretary To Lam visited the National Heart Institute of Malaysia and presented gifts to pediatric patients undergoing intensive treatment at the hospital.

During the meetings, in an atmosphere of sincerity and trust, the two sides expressed their satisfaction with the extensive cooperation between Vietnam and Malaysia that has gone through more than 50 years of construction and development (1973-2024), overcoming ups and downs in history and growing stronger. Since upgrading bilateral relations to Strategic Partnership in 2015, the cooperation between the two countries has been continuously consolidated and developed deeply, achieving important achievements both bilaterally and multilaterally, on the basis of mutual understanding and trust, a common vision of security, prosperity, sustainable development in the region and cultural and historical similarities as well as deep ties between the people of the two countries. General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim agreed to issue a Joint Statement on upgrading Vietnam - Malaysia relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; affirming their commitment to supporting each other on each country's development path. Vietnam and Malaysia are currently the only comprehensive strategic partners in Southeast Asia. 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' senior leaders also discussed the situation in each country, bilateral relations and the international situation; agreed to assess that Vietnam and Malaysia share many great similarities in history, culture, goals and companionship in the development process; 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. During the visit, the leaders of both sides 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).

Visiting the National University of Malaya, the oldest and most prestigious university, the cradle of many famous politicians and personalities of Malaysia, General Secretary To Lam delivered an important speech sharing his vision for the next stage in the Vietnam - Malaysia relationship and the vision of a prosperous, united and developed ASEAN Community, while affirming Vietnam's respect for ASEAN. In his speech, General Secretary To Lam emphasized that the newly established Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework will open a new era of development in the relationship between the two countries, effectively supporting and complementing the development path, for peace , stability and prosperity of each country and the whole region. The next stage of Vietnam and Malaysia, of the relationship between the two countries as well as ensuring a fair, open international system based on international law depends largely on the strong development of ASEAN. The future of ASEAN depends on the determination of each member country, including Malaysia and Vietnam. Since its inception in 1967, ASEAN has made great strides. Established in a region full of divisions, ASEAN has continuously expanded, developed and become a sustainable, united community, demonstrating maturity, mettle and steadfastness in the face of all challenges.

Creating new momentum for Vietnam - Malaysia relations The results of the visit are important 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. According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Dinh Ngoc Linh, there is still much potential and room for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, the goal of bringing bilateral turnover to 18 billion USD is very feasible. However, in order to bring this cooperation to new achievements, the two sides need to find new directions, including areas where both sides have needs and mutual strengths such as digital economic development and energy connectivity. One of the potential areas that the two sides have been actively cooperating in and need to promote in the coming time is cooperation in the field of Halal. Malaysian leaders have expressed their desire to cooperate with Vietnam in this field. The cooperation will bring many benefits to Vietnam in building Halal standards for its key products, thereby making it easier to penetrate the Malaysian market and other major Muslim markets in the world. With the profound and substantial results of the visit, especially the upgrading of relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, Head of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Le Hoai Trung said that the first task of the relevant agencies of the two countries is to promptly implement the concretization of the new framework of relations, promptly develop a comprehensive Action Plan to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; review and promote necessary cooperation agreements to create an effective cooperation mechanism. 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 fields, such as green economy, innovation, science and technology, digital transformation, green energy, etc. Relevant agencies periodically review, urge and inspect the implementation of those plans and programs, so that the agreements can truly come to life, promote efficiency, and best serve the development goals of the two countries in the new period. Government leaders as well as major political parties and the Malaysian ruling coalition have all expressed particularly good feelings towards the country, people of Vietnam and General Secretary To Lam. The two sides continue to strengthen exchanges, sharing and communication on state, party and people channels, to continuously foster and develop those feelings, consolidating a solid and long-term foundation for the strong development of bilateral relations in the new period.

The visit of General Secretary To Lam is of special significance, as it is a concrete step in implementing the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress when our country is facing a new era, an era of the Vietnamese people's rise. This visit to Malaysia not only contributes to promoting solidarity among ASEAN members but also demonstrates Vietnam's consistent foreign policy of attaching importance to the friendly neighborly relationship and strategic partnership with Malaysia.