Vietnam, Indonesia lift relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

Vietnam and Indonesia have agreed to elevate their bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, marking a historic milestone that ushers in a new era of deeper, more substantive and comprehensive cooperation.

Indonesia is now the 11th Comprehensive Strategic Partner of Vietnam. The others are China, Russia, India, South Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, France, Malaysia, and New Zealand.

This upgrade aims to serve the interests of both nations and contribute to peace, development and prosperity in ASEAN and the world.

The decision was made during talks between Party General Secretary To Lam and Indonesian President and President of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) Prabowo Subianto on Monday.

The discussions followed a welcome ceremony hosted by the Indonesian President for the Party chief, his spouse and the high-ranking delegation of Vietnam, who are on a state visit to Indonesia from March 9-11.

President Subianto emphasized that the Party General Secretary’s visit held special significance as the two countries celebrate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

He affirmed that Vietnam and Indonesia shared many historical similarities, common values and a shared vision, with both aspiring to become advanced, high-income nations by 2045.

The Indonesian President said that Vietnam remained an important partner for Indonesia in the region and expressed Indonesia’s desire to further strengthen ties with Vietnam.

Party General Secretary To Lam emphasized that Vietnam highly valued and prioritized its relationship with Indonesia, recognizing the country’s key role in the region.

The Party chief commended Indonesia’s achievements and expressed confidence that Indonesia would achieve a high annual growth rate of 8%, becoming a developed nation by the time it celebrates its centennial in 2045. He also shared updates on Vietnam’s overall situation.

Both leaders expressed satisfaction with the strong Vietnam-Indonesia friendship, particularly since the establishment of their Strategic Partnership in 2013. Building on this foundation, they agreed to upgrade bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The two leaders agreed to enhance exchanges and high-level contacts across all channels, effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms and swiftly develop an Action Plan to elevate collaboration in all fields.

Both sides committed to strengthening defence and security cooperation, including intelligence sharing, search and rescue efforts and experience-sharing in combating transnational crimes, particularly online fraud networks, human trafficking, forced labour and terrorism threats.

They also agreed to expand economic cooperation, remove trade barriers and facilitate business activities, particularly in the export and import of agricultural and aquatic products, with the goal of soon reaching $18 billion in bilateral trade turnover.

Both sides committed to creating favourable conditions for businesses from the two countries to invest in each other's markets, especially in emerging sectors such as the digital economy, green economy, energy transition, electric vehicle ecosystem development, e-commerce, smart delivery systems, digital payments, software design and manufacturing for production plants, AI-driven technological solutions and halal-certified products.

They also pledged to expand sectoral cooperation in science and technology, innovation and information technology, aiming to establish a digital partnership.

Additionally, they agreed to bolster collaboration in emerging areas including the green economy, digital economy, innovation, science and technology and digital transformation.

The two leaders underscored the importance of promoting people-to-people exchanges, particularly among the younger generations.

They reaffirmed their commitment to closer coordination within ASEAN to build a stronger, more unified bloc that upholds its central role.

Regarding regional and international issues of mutual concern, both sides emphasized the importance of maintaining peace, security, stability, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea).

They reiterated their support for peaceful resolution of disputes, non-use or threat of force and adherence to international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

On this occasion, Party General Secretary To Lam invited President Prabowo Subianto to visit Vietnam and extended an invitation for Indonesian leaders to attend the fourth Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals (P4G) Summit in Hanoi this April, which the Indonesian President gladly accepted.

Following their talks, the two leaders witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents, including a Letter of Intent between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs on cooperation to enhance capacity in technical and digital economy sectors; a Letter of Intent on cooperation in science, technology, and innovation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Indonesian Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology; and an Implementation Agreement on cooperation between the Directorate of Fisheries of Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Directorate General of Aquaculture of Indonesia’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in the field of aquaculture.

They also held a joint press briefing to announce the official upgrade of Vietnam-Indonesia relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.