State President Nguyen Minh Triet arrived in Hanoi on October 3, successfully concluding his trip to attend top-level UN sessions.

Hung said that President Triet’s successful visit to Cuba was another vivid proof of the fraternal and faithful friendship between Vietnam and Cuba that would enable both countries to boost bilateral cooperation in economics, trade and investment.

Both sides affirmed their determination to foster their time-honoured friendship and effectively tap their potential for mutual development.

They agreed to promote the exchange of visits and contacts and increase the operational efficiency of the Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic, Commercial, Scientific and Technological Cooperation to increase bilateral cooperation in areas such as agriculture, seacooking, consumer goods industry, oil and gas, bio-technology, construction and tourism.

Ministries, sectors and businesses from the two countries agreed to implement the signed agreements and documents on bilateral cooperation and to seek out new forms of cooperation in line with conditions and circumstances in each country in order to lift their economic and trade ties to the same level as their fine political relations.

The Deputy FM stressed that Mr Triet’s visit to Chile would further enhance the ties of friendship and cooperation and create measures to build a comprehensive partnership between the two countries based on their high-level joint statement released in May 2007.

In addition to maintaining their current political relations, both sides consented to boost cooperation in economic and trade. President Triet and his Chilean counterpart Michel Bachellet expressed their intentions to sign a Vietnam-Chile Free Trade Agreement soon. This will be the first FTA to be signed by Vietnam and an American nation and it will give a boost to both countries’ economic and trade ties while creating the best possible conditions for businesses to expand their markets in East Asia and Latin America.

After hearing news about the losses caused by tropical storm Ketsana, the business delegation accompanying Mr Triet to Cuba and Chile collected VND314 million to support people in the storm-hit areas. The money will be sent to the Vietnam Fatherland Front to be distributed to those in need.

VietNamNet/VOV