President Marcos and Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh reaffirmed their commitment to enhance the strategic partnership between their nations, according to Malacañang.
“We have made a good deal of progress since our very first discussion and some of the engagements between our two countries. And I am very happy that we will be able to pursue that,” President Marcos said in a news release.
“And it gives us also the opportunity to explore new areas of cooperation and of partnership. So, thank you,” he told his Vietnamese counterpart during their bilateral meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits in Vientiane, Laos.
Before concluding his remarks, President Marcos expressed his condolences for the loss of lives caused by typhoon Yagi in Vietnam and for the demise on July 19, 2024 of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
Typhoon Yagi is known in the Philippines as ‘Enteng,’ which affected parts of Luzon, causing forced evacuations, class suspensions, flight disruptions, among other weather-related issues.
For his part, Prime Minister Chinh expressed his gratitude to President Marcos for extending his condolences to typhoon victims, the people of Vietnam and to the family of the late General Secretary.
The Prime Minister also reaffirmed Viet Nam’s unwavering commitment to the Philippines.
“I want to reaffirm that we always support the strategic partnership with the Philippines. I’m glad to note that the discussions that we began two years ago have been implemented effectively,” the Prime Minister said.
The Philippines and Vietnam signed various agreements including rice trade cooperation, incident prevention in the South China Sea, agriculture and cultural cooperation.
Both nations recently figured in a violent maritime confrontation with China and its bullying behavior in the South China Sea, where the Philippines and Vietnam have legitimate territorial claims.
