Vietnam-Brunei joint commission’s meeting hailed

The applause was made during a meeting in Hanoi on February 27 with Brunei Minister at Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Lim Jock Seng.

Lim is in Vietnam to co-chair the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh which was held the same day on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties. 

Reviewing bilateral economic and trade ties over the past years, they said two-way trade hit US$97.7 million last year, up 32.6 year-on-year, and discussed the possibility of enhancing links in trade and oil and gas, among others. 

Hai suggested facilitating all-level visits, especially those by businesses and working closely together to realise a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on trade and industry cooperation signed by Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh and Minister Lim Jock Seng last August. 

Both sides need to hold trade and investment promotion activities, he said, asking Brunei to provide support for the two countries’ oil and gas firms to enhance partnership, including the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the Brunei National Petroleum Company (Petroleum Brunei) in oil and gas projects in each country and the third country. 

The host requested Brunei to assist Vietnam in personnel training and improve the capacity of Halal certification and management agencies, and businesses in the country. 

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Brunei Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade must exert more efforts to achieve the goal of US$500 million in two-way trade by 2025 as set by leaders, he said. 

Lim also agreed with the host’s proposals. 

Discussing the role of the ASEAN Economic Community in each country’s economy and trade, both sides agreed to strengthen internal trade and tap the potential of major economies in the bloc to ease reliance on outside partners.  

Both sides also discussed bilateral ties within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) framework. Lim congratulated Vietnam on hosting APEC 2017, saying that Brunei will offer all possible support to Vietnam during the process.