Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Myanmar Acting Prime Minister Sen Lieu Gen Thein Sein agreed in Naypyidaw August 14 to promote trade ties and cooperation in the fields of oil & gas, transport, posts & telecom, agriculture, healthcare, culture, and education, said Vietnamese media.
In order to increase the two-way trade turnover, the two leaders discussed some concrete measures to create favorable conditions for goods exchange, including a payment mechanism agreement between the two countries’ banks.
The two sides also agreed to hold the 6th session of Vietnam-Myanmar Joint Committee soon to discuss measures to boost bilateral cooperation.
Dung and Thein Sein highly appreciated their close coordination at multilateral forums such as ASEAN, CLMV, ACMECS, GMS, and EWEC. Dung also thanked Myanmar for its support for Vietnam’s bid to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2008-2009 term.
After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Vietnam Oil & Gas Group and Myanmar Energy General Department to explore and exploit oil and gas in Myanmar.
While in Myanmar, the Vietnamese delegation headed by Dung also paid a courtesy visit to Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Sr. Gen. Than Shwe.
In the evening of the same day, Thein Sein and his wife hosted a banquet in honor of Dung and his wife and entourage. Dung will leave Myanmar later today for Brunei, the fifth and final leg of his trip to five ASEAN nations.
Vietnam and Myanmar officially established diplomatic ties in 1975. They target to increase their bilateral trade to US$100 million this year from US$23.4 million in the first four months of the year and US$70 million in 2006. Vietnam mainly exports consumer goods, pharmaceutical products and electricity equipment, while importing timber from Myanmar.
The Vietnam National Flag Carrier (Vietnam Airlines) plans to open Hanoi-Yangon direct air route in November this year. (Local sources, Website of Government)
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