Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Algerian counterpart, AbdelmalekSellal, said during their talks in Algiers on June 1 that they weredetermined to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

The Algerian PM welcomed the Vietnamese leader’svisit, saying it highlighted the traditional friendship between the twocountries. He also praised Vietnam’s socio- economic development andexpressed the hope that the two countries would continue to cooperateand support each other.

“Algeria has always supported Vietnamwhen support was needed and vice versa. The two countries will continueto foster friendship and further our cooperation in the future”, hesaid.

Vietnam always considers Algeria a close and long-timefriend, PM Dung responded, stressing that there was a lot of room forimprovement in bilateral cooperation.

The two leaders agreed thatmeasures would have to be taken to increase bilateral trade from 250million USD to 1 billion USD in the near future by boosting cooperationin heavy and light industries, agriculture, mining, textile, finance andbanking as well as other sectors.

PM Sellal said Algeriawelcomed Vietnamese enterprises to invest in its petroleum, housing andindustrial sectors. Vietnamese enterprises would receive the bestpossible support for their operations in the country, he pledged.

PMDung said Vietnam supported Algeria’s effort to join the World TradeOrganisation and was willing to work together with the country to widenthe scope of bilateral cooperation in education, cultural exchange,judiciary as well as defence and security matters.

TheAlgerian PM reiterated his country’s stance on the East Sea issue,saying disputes should be settled peacefully through negotiations and inline with international law, and his country was ready to contribute tothe process.

At the end of their meeting, the two leadersattended the signing of bilateral cooperation agreements on tourism,culture and healthcare.-VNA