(VOVWORLD) - President Vo Van Thuong expressed Vietnam’s desire to take its seven-decade cooperative relations with Mongolia to new heights during a joint press briefing in Hanoi on November 1 with his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh.
 Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong (R) and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh who is in Hanoi for a five-day State visit to Vietnam |
“We believe that Vietnam - Mongolia relations will continue to be consolidated and developed towards a new relationship framework,” said Thuong at the press briefing that was held following his talks with President Khurelsukh the same day.
He said the traditional friendship and cooperative relations between Vietnam and Mongolia are developing positively, yielding many new achievements, especially in politics, defense, security, and economy.
Thuong said the two sides agreed on a range of important measures to further develop the two countries’ relations more deeply, substantially and effectively in the coming time.
Accordingly, the two sides agreed to promote the goal of raising bilateral trade turnover to US$200 million in the coming years from US$85 million recorded in 2022.
“We welcome the signing of an agreement on visa exemption between the two countries, contributing to expanding trade cooperation, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges,” said Thuong.
“We agreed to continue creating conditions and protecting legitimate rights for citizens of the two countries to feel secure in living, studying and working in the other country, while serving as a bridge to promote Vietnam - Mongolia friendship,” said the Vietnamese President.
At the press briefing, Mongolian President Khurelsukh revealed that Vietnam was the first country in Southeast Asia with which Mongolia established diplomatic relations in 1954.
He recalled Mongolian people’s anti-war movements in support of Vietnam in the past, and said he was proud to visit Vietnam in the lead up to the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 2024.
“Bilateral relations have stood the test of time to develop strongly over the past decades, and it’s our responsibility to continue to write the golden history of our relations in the course of the next seven decades,” said Khurelsukh.
He expressed his belief that his State visit to Vietnam would give fresh impetus to promoting the traditional friendship between the two countries.
Earlier, the two presidents witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation documents between the two countries’ ministries and agencies, including an agreement on visa exemption for diplomatic, official and ordinary passport holders; a memorandum of understanding on information exchange and cooperation in immigration management; a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in transnational drug crime prevention; a memorandum of understanding on strategic security research cooperation; and a memorandum of understanding on rice trade.
Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh arrived in Hanoi on November 1, beginning a five-day State visit to Vietnam at the invitation of President Vo Van Thuong.