Vietnam, Turkey target US$4 billion trade turnover

During talks in Hanoi on August 23, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim concurred to strengthen exchanges of visits and local municipal cooperation. 

They expressed concern about terrorism and pledged to support international effort to secure peace and stability. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the media following talks that both agreed to promote wide-ranging cooperation, ministerial, sectoral and people cooperation.

"Trade cooperation is the key pillar in bilateral ties to achieve US$4 billion of trade turnover by 2020. The Prime Minister and I pledged favorable conditions for provincial and corporate cooperation in goods and services of their strength. We discussed a host of measures to settle and minimize trade disputes and price dumping cases, while boosting cultural, educational, tourism and transport cooperation," Phuc said.

He asked Turkey to recognize Vietnam’s market economy soon and remove a number of unreasonable taxes and fees on Vietnamese products such as footwear, fibre, belts, air conditioners and cell phones.

The two sides agreed to work closely to step up cooperation in transportation, especially aviation and maritime affiliation, science-technology, culture-education, security-defence and people-to-people diplomacy.

PM Binali Yildirim suggested that the two countries provide scholarship to students of each other and encourage their students to study the language and culture of the other country.

The two cabinet leaders consented to work hand in hand in organising activities to celebrate the 40th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties next year.

On political ties, the two sides agreed to intensify delegation exchange and encourage the cooperation between their ministries, sectors, localities and friendship organisations. They pledged to continue with coordination and mutual support at international forums.

The Turkish PM asked for Vietnam’s support of Turkey’s bid for a seat in the UNESCO Executive Board for the 2017-2021 tenure, while showing his nation support for Vietnam to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term.

The two sides also shared concern on rising terrorism and affirmed their support for regional and international efforts in anti-terrorism.

Concerning the East Sea issue, PM Binali Yildirim voiced support for Vietnam’s efforts in maintaining stability in the region in general and the East Sea in particular, as well as the stance of Vietnam and ASEAN countries on settling disputes in the East Sea by peaceful methods via dialogues and with respect for international law.

Following the talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of an agreement between Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance and Turkey’s Ministry of Customs and Trade on administrative cooperation and support in customs, and an MoU between the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Turkish Ministry of Economy on partnership in developing export processing and economic zones. The Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality of Vietnam and the Turkish Standards Institution also signed a cooperation plan for the 2018-2018 period.

The same day, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan received the Turkish Prime Minister during which she called for more leaders’ visits to strengthen political trust and expand cooperation and mutual support in international arena.   

She said she hopes the successful talks between Binali Yildirim and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, along with cooperative deals signed and the business forum held during the visit, will open up a new chapter in economic and investment partnership between the two countries.

The top Vietnamese legislator also suggested promoting visits and contacts between high-ranking officials of the two countries to enhance political trust and expand cooperation. The two countries should also coordinate and support each other at regional and international forums, she noted.