HANOI, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his visiting Malaysian counterpart Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Monday affirmed their consensus on orientations to promote bilateral ties, Vietnam News Agency reported.
During their talks here in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, the prime ministers agreed to increase the exchange of high-ranking delegations and at all levels, optimizing bilateral cooperation mechanism between the two countries, well implementing the action program for the strategic partnership during the 2021-2025 period, among others.
Sharing the view that economic, trade and investment cooperation has been a bright spot in the bilateral ties, they agreed to work to raise two-way trade to 18 billion U.S. dollars or even higher by 2025, and step up the trading of goods of their strength such as agricultural and aquatic products, Halal products and electronic components.
The two sides will also study the building of a mechanism on information sharing regarding trade remedies.
The leaders believed that cooperation in national defense and security has brought about pragmatic results, and consented to push for the early signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on bilateral defense collaboration, and to enhance cyber security and maritime cooperation.
They also compared notes on measures to boost partnerships in other areas like food security, labor, education, justice, science and technology, culture, sports, and tourism.
Following their talks, the leaders witnessed the exchange of several cooperation documents, including an MoU on recruitment, employment and repatriation of laborers, and another on legal cooperation between the Vietnamese and Malaysian governments.
Ismail Sabri is paying an official visit to Vietnam from Sunday to Monday. ■
