Tokyo (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh had bilateralmeetings with leaders from the three Southeast Asian countries of Laos,Malaysia and Singapore on June 11 on the sidelines of the 24th InternationalConference on the Future of Asia.

In a meeting with Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, both sides attachedthe importance of the Vietnam-Laos special friendship and affirmed to deepenbilateral cooperation in the future.

They agreed to accelerate economic cooperation in an effective and practicalmanner, with focus on key transportation, economic and infrastructure projects.

The Lao leader affirmed to create favourable conditions for and encouragecooperation between businesses of both sides. The Lao government will work toremove bottlenecks for cooperative projects, particularly significant oneswhich bring substantial benefits for people of the two countries.

The two leaders said that Vietnam and Laos will continue to share informationand coordinate at multilateral forums to maintain peace, stability, andsustainable development in each nation.

Congratulating Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on his election,Deputy PM Binh said that Vietnam always treasures and wants to elevate thestrategic partnership with Malaysia to a new height.

The Malaysian PM suggested both countries consolidate political trust, boost economiccooperation with new approaches, focusing on sectors which apply high tech andhave highly-added value to adapt to the globe’s rapid changes and impacts ofthe industry 4.0.

Binh and Mahathir reached consensus on expanding marine cooperation, promotingthe signing of fishery cooperation deals, addressing fishermen-related issues,and accelerating negotiations on overlapping waters.

They also talked regional and international issues of mutual interests,stressing the need to strengthen solidarity to build a peaceful, stable andresilient ASEAN bloc.

Meanwhile, Binh and his Singaporean counterpart Teo Chee Hean achievedconsensus on maintaining political trust, fortifying the implementationhigh-level agreements, especially those reached during PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’svisit to Singapore in April, as well as promoting defence-security cooperation.

Teo committed to helping Vietnam enhance management capacity, share experiencein training young leaders, and collaborate to foster regional economicintegration through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP).-VNA