Philippine President, Brunei Sultan, Thai PM to visit Vietnam next year

Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, and Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin have expressed their intentions to visit Vietnam next year.

The three dignitaries revealed the information during bilateral meetings with Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh on the sidelines of the Commemorative Summit for the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan relations in Tokyo on Sunday.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in June 2022, said he is glad to make an official visit to Vietnam in 2024 to discuss ways to further enhance the bilateral strategic partnership.

The president and PM Chinh agreed to effectively deploy bilateral cooperation mechanisms, bolster cooperation in the areas of the two countries’ potential and strengths such as agriculture, including rice production to ensure food security.

They affirmed the intention to continue cooperation in global issues, such as climate change response, and regional ones including the South China Sea (which is referred to as the East Sea in Vietnam) issue.

At a short dialogue with Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, PM Chinh proposed the two sides maintain the close coordination in effectively carrying out the plan of action to implement the comprehensive partnership for the 2023-2027 period as well as the results and agreements reached during his official visit to Brunei in February.

The Sultan of Brunei, who visited Vietnam in March 2019, affirmed that he will visit Vietnam again in 2024.

In their short meeting, PM Chinh and his Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin agreed to coordinate to effectively carry out the plan of action to implement the Vietnam-Thailand Enhanced Strategic Partnership during the 2022-2027 period, helping raise the two-way trade value to $25 billion soon.

Thailand is Vietnam’s largest trade partner in ASEAN and the latter’s ninth-biggest investor.

The two PMs concurred to step up cooperation in the areas of both nations’ potential and strengths, and strive to elevate the bilateral ties to a new height.

Affirming that Vietnam is an important partner of Thailand in the region, PM Srettha said the two countries hold huge potential to enhance cooperation.

The Thai PM, who took office in September, accepted his counterpart to pay an official visit to Vietnam in 2024, and co-chair the fourth joint cabinet meeting.