Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah at their meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on October 9.

At the meeting, PM Chinh proposed that Brunei pay attention and create favourable conditions in licensing Vietnamese fishing vessels and fishermen to exploit seafood in Brunei; soon extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation on the use of the hotline to exchange information to address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The Sultan of Brunei affirmed that he will soon arrange a state visit to Vietnam; agreed to further deepen the friendly relations with Vietnam, strengthen cooperation in trade, agriculture, fishery, and oil and gas. The Sultan also highly appreciated that the two countries will soon sign a MoU on cooperation in the field of Halal, agreeing to promote cooperation and participation in the global supply chain of Halal goods and food.

The two leaders also discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern, agreeing to maintain solidarity, unity and the central role of ASEAN in the region; ensure peace, stability, security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); soon achieve an effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.