Hanoi (VNA) – PrimeMinister Pham Minh Chinh’s coming official visit to Brunei will create a strongimpulse for further intensifying the two countries’ comprehensive partnership,said Vietnamese Ambassador to Brunei Tran Van Khoa.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency,Khoa said the visit on February 10 - 11 holds great significance as it is thefirst trip to Brunei by a PM of Vietnam in nearly 16 years and takes place amidgrowing bilateral relations, following the 30th anniversary ofdiplomatic ties in 2022.

The visit is a move to implementVietnam’s foreign policy and shows the importance Vietnam attaches to the tieswith Brunei as well as other ASEAN members.

During the trip, PM Chinh will havea meeting with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah to set up orientations for promotingbilateral cooperation in all aspects, thereby helping to effectively implementthe comprehensive partnership, the ambassador noted.

For the last more than 30 years,Vietnam and Brunei have witnessed important strides in their relations in allfields, from politics, economy, and trade to culture and people-to-people exchange,Khoa noted.

Since bilateral ties were officiallyestablished in 1992 and elevated to a comprehensive partnership in 2019, theyhave become increasingly close-knit, enhanced political trust and cooperation,and maintained mutual support at multilateral forums.

Bilateral trade has been on the riseafter the COVID-19 pandemic, surpassing the target of 500 million USD ahead of schedule for 2025, he went on, adding that the countries launched the negotiations onagreements on security and anti-transnational crime cooperation in 2019.

The diplomat also highlighted collaborationin education, culture, and people-to-people exchange.

In the recent past, Vietnam - Bruneirelations have been thriving in a substantive manner. They have continuouslycoordinated and supported each other at multilateral forums and internationaland regional organisations such as the ASEAN - EU cooperation framework, theAsia - Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), andthe United Nations. They have also been working together to promote ASEAN’scentrality.

In the coming time, he suggested, the two sides should carry out the outcomesto be obtained during the PM’s coming visit; keep fostering the comprehensivepartnership, especially tapping into every economic cooperation potential; and continuecontributing to the solidarity of ASEAN for the sake of regional and globalpeace, stability, and development./.