Vietnam has always voiced its strong support for the Palestinian people’s just war, said State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

Mr Triet made the statement while receiving the visiting Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, in Hanoi on May 25. After the welcoming ceremony, President Triet held talks with his Palestinian guest.

This is the first State visit to Vietnam by a Palestine leader since August 2001. President Triet highlighted the significance of Mr Abbas’s ongoing visit to Vietnam, saying that this will strengthen friendship and cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the fields of economics, culture, education, sports and tourism.

President Triet stated that Vietnam has always backed the Palestinian people’s basic national rights and the two-State solution, in which Palestine and Israel co-exist peacefully.

President Abbas praised Vietnam for its strong support for the Palestinian people and expressed his admiration of the Vietnamese people’s past struggles, as well as the remarkable achievements in its current cause of national construction and development.

Both sides discussed measures to enhance their bilateral ties and promote cooperation at international forums.

At the end of their talks, President Triet and Mr Abbas witnessed the signing ceremony of a framework agreement between the two governments on cooperation in the fields of economics, culture, education, science and technology, sports, and tourism; a memorandum of understanding on the two foreign ministries’ cooperating together; a cooperative agreement between Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and Palestine’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education; and a cooperative agreement between the Vietnam News Agency and the Palestinian News Agency.

Earlier on May 25, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas laid a wreath and paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi.

The same day, Mr Abbas also met with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Nong Duc Manh, who said that Vietnam is also willing to share its experiences in party leadership, building and development with the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Al Fatah).

President Abbas expressed his admiration and praised the Vietnamese people’s achievements in the past struggle for national liberation and the current national construction and defence.

He spoke highly of the CPV’s role as well as Vietnam’s prestige and position in the region and the world.

He briefed the Party chief on the situation in the Middle East, the Al Fatah and Palestinian people’s efforts in accelerating peace talks with Israel and outcomes of his working sessions with President Triet and Vietnamese relevant agencies.

Palestine always attaches importance to and wishes to push up traditional friendship and cooperation with Vietnam, President Abbas affirmed.

Source: VOV