KualaLumpur (VNA) – Vietnam and Malaysia have agreed to increase visits atall levels and through all channels along with exchanges between their citizensin order to advance the bilateral strategic partnership. 

The consensus was reached during Deputy PrimeMinister Truong Hoa Binh’s visit to Malaysia from July 11-13 at the invitationof his Malaysian counterpart Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

On July 12, Deputy PM Binh met with SenatePresident Sanasee Vigneswaran, and held talks with his Malaysian counterpart AhmadZahid Hamidi. 

He also had a meeting with UMNOSecretary-General Tengku Adnan bin Tengku Mansor, and hosted receptions for Presidentof the Court of Appeal Raus bin Sharif, Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi bin Aliand minister in charge of the National Security Council Shahidan bin Kassim. 

At these meetings, the two sides agreed tofoster collaboration in national defence and security, and justice, includingthe early organisation of the first meeting of the high-level committee ondefence cooperation at ministerial level. 

The two sides will step up the partnershipbetween military forces and set up a new working group on naval cooperation,while expanding collaboration in crime combat, especially organised,cross-border and high-tech crimes, and human traffickers. 

The two sides will negotiate and sign amemorandum of understanding on legal cooperation and a range of agreements onfighting human trafficking, extradition, the transfer of convicted persons andlegal assistance, in order to create the legal framework for joint work incombating crime.

The Malaysian side gave positive response to Vietnam’sproposals to improve the efficiency of cooperation in oil and gas and soonnegotiate an agreement on fishery cooperation and another on aviation services. 

They shared the necessity to facilitateinvestment of each other’s businesses, particularly in rice trading, halal foodprocessing, agricultural product export, processing industry in service ofrural development and support industry. 

The Malaysian side said they will consider receivingmore Vietnamese labourers and pledge to support Vietnamese working and living inMalaysia. 

Deputy PM Binh appreciated Malaysian competentagencies’ efforts to handle the Vietnamese fishermen issue on the humanitarianspirit and suggested the Malaysian side reduce death penalty for a number ofVietnamese prisoners in the host country. 

The Malaysian side pledged to ensure the legitimaterights and a fair trial for Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese suspect in the deathof a citizen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in  Malaysia. 

The two sides committed to tighten theircoordination in building and developing the ASEAN Community and consolidate thegroup’s unity and central role in the region.

They also affirmed the significance of peace,stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the EastSea, and stressed the need to settle disputes by peaceful measures on the basisof international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS) and respect for legal and diplomatic processes; not use or threaten touse force; fully abide by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the EastSea (DOC); accelerate the building of a framework of a Code of Conduct in theEast Sea (COC) towards early formation of the COC.
Deputy PMTruong Hoa Binh is scheduled to pay a courtesy visit to Prime Minister NajibRazak and receive representatives of some leading Malaysian companies on July13.-VNA