Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong (R) welcomes Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (Photo: VNA)

The visit marked a new milestone in the traditional friendship and partnership between the two countries. During the visit, both nations issued a joint statement on the establishment of the Vietnam-Brunei comprehensive partnership. The Brunei Sultan had talks with Party leader and President Nguyen Phu Trong and met with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. At the meetings, the two sides agreed to make two-way trade balanced and sustainable, targeting 500 million USD in 2020. They plan to optimise market access for each other’s goods and services on the foundation of free trade agreements, and boost education cooperation. The two nations reaffirmed the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, maritime and overflight security, safety and freedom in the East Sea, and stressed the need to strengthen mutual trust and to settle disputes peacefully in line with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. A memorandum of understanding was signed on the use of a hotline for information-exchange to address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism of Brunei.