(VOVworld) - Vietnam and Chile will increase high-level reciprocal visits and implement specific areas of cooperation to fully tap their potential. They will bring into full play the existing cooperation mechanisms such as political consultations between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the meeting of the inter-governmental committee, and the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). They will also work closely together to speed up negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP). The agreement was reached during a visit to Chile from July 3-5 by Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

Ngan met with President Michelle Bachelet, Senate President Isabel Allende, Lower House Speaker Aldo Cornejo, leaders of the parliamentary friendship group with Vietnam, and Minister-director of the National Service for Women Claudia Pascual. Chilean leaders expressed concern about recent tensions in the East Sea after China towed its drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 to waters deep inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. They supported Vietnam’s stance of resolving the dispute through peaceful measures in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as other agreements signed between the concerned parties. During the visit, Ngan attended an inauguration ceremony of the late Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh’s statue erected in a park named after him in capital Santiago.