Promoting friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Solomon Islands

At the invitation of Party Central Committee Secretary and Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, Solomon Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Peter Shanel Agovaka paid an official visit to Vietnam from November 11 to 13, 2025.

This is the first visit by a Solomon Islands Foreign Minister to Vietnam, and also the highest-level visit between the two countries in nearly 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations (October 30, 1996), marking a new step of development in bilateral relations.

On the afternoon of November 11, in Hanoi , Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung held talks with Minister Peter Shanel Agovaka.

At the talks, the two Ministers expressed their pleasure at the fact that the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Solomon Islands have continued to be maintained and developed positively over nearly three decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations (1996), especially the close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations.

Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to its relations with South Pacific countries, including the Solomon Islands - a country with an important geostrategic position and rich marine resources; highly appreciates Solomon's open foreign policy of "making friends with all countries"; thanks Solomon for supporting Vietnam's candidacy for the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 term and sending a delegation to attend the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime (Hanoi Convention).

Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung suggested the two sides strengthen cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, agriculture, fisheries, construction materials and human resources development.

The Minister shared that the Vietnamese Government is very interested in sustainable fisheries development and wishes to increase cooperation with Solomon in this field, and requested the Solomon Government to facilitate licensing for Vietnamese enterprises to cooperate in fishing in Solomon's waters.

In return, Vietnam is also willing to send experts to support Solomon in the fields of agriculture and fisheries, and encourage businesses to invest in and build seafood processing factories for export in Solomon, contributing to creating sustainable supply chains and value chains.

Foreign Minister Peter Shanel Agovaka expressed his admiration for Vietnam's remarkable socio-economic development and highlighted Vietnam's increasingly important role in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Minister said Solomon is actively expanding relations with partners, serving the country's sustainable development, and wishes to learn from Vietnam's experience.

Foreign Minister Solomon Agovaka shared that Solomon wishes to strengthen trade cooperation and import Vietnam's key products such as rice and construction materials; welcomed Vietnamese enterprises that have initially operated successfully in Solomon, making positive contributions to the development of the island nation; expressed the hope that Vietnamese enterprises will continue to invest in Solomon, especially in the fields of infrastructure construction, mineral exploitation, renewable energy production, electric batteries, etc.

The two Ministers agreed to further promote substantive cooperation in potential areas such as agriculture, fisheries, construction, tourism, mineral exploitation, etc.; highly appreciated the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Cooperation Framework between the two Governments, creating an important foundation to orient cooperation in the coming period; at the same time, continue to promote the early signing of the Visa Exemption Agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders, as well as other agreements such as the Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement, and the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.

Discussing the world and regional situation, the two Ministers shared that the international situation is becoming increasingly complicated; multilateralism and multilateral institutions are facing many challenges; the implementation of many global agendas, including important issues for Solomon Islands and Vietnam such as sustainable development, climate change response, etc., still lacks many resources.

In that context, the two sides share interests in promoting multilateralism and international law, while also promoting the role of the United Nations and regional organizations such as ASEAN and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

Foreign Minister Solomon highly appreciated Vietnam's active and important role in ASEAN and the region; welcomed ASEAN's expansion of cooperation with South Pacific countries and wished to become an observer of ASEAN.

The two Ministers also reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation, and respecting international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/thuc-day-quan-he-huu-nghi-va-hop-tac-giua-viet-nam-va-solomon-post1076392.vnp