Vietnam and Venezuelan inked five agreements during the first ever visit of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to Vietnam from July 31 to August 1, aiming to foster the multi-faceted relations between two countries.
Signatures were put to the framework agreement on bilateral cooperation, a cultural co-operation agreement, an energy co-operation agreement, a cooperation agreement in the oil and gas industry and a letter of intent on cooperation between the Vietnam Petroleum Corporation and the Petroleum Corporation of Venezuela.
The two sides also set up the Vietnam-Venezuela Friendship Association and issued a joint communiqué stating their desires to bring bilateral relations to a new phase.
The agreements will pave the legal bases for teamwork in finance, trade, technology, culture, economy and industry, especially in oil industry, Chavez noted.
Venezuela’s oil and gas extraction industry was 110 years old and the country would happily set up co-operation in the field with Vietnam to change great reserves of oil and gas offshore and on land into products, he added.
In exchange, Vietnam has sent a delegation to Venezuela to learn friend’s experience in this field.
On this occasion, the Venezuelan president met with General Secretary of the sole and ruling Communist Party of Vietnam Nong Duc Manh, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong.
The leaders committed to advance dialogues and support the bonds between Latin America and Asia in different international forums of where both States were members such as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), strengthen the voice of the Non-Aligned Movement (NOAL), considering it as the most appropriate forum for developing nations to fight for their legitimate interests and for the inclusion of their problems in the global agenda.
Chavez visited Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and met with more than 400 Vietnamese businesses and paid a courtesy visit to former General Vo Nguyen Giap. The Venezuelan president wrapped up his two-day visit to Vietnam on August 1.
“Chavez is mainly courting countries such as Russia, Belarus, Iran, Qatar, Vietnam and Mali which are considered by the Bush administration to be outsiders. He's looking for oil deals, votes to support Venezuela's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council, and to create a common ideological front against the US," said Larry Birns from the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.
The People, Labour
Vietnamese
