|
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that the Party, State and
people of Viet Nam had always treasured the traditional friendship with Ukraine.
 |
Party General
Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (right) meets Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych
at the Party Central Committee Office in Ha Noi. (Photos: VNS) | He made
the affirmation while receiving visiting Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych
on Saturday. The
Party leader said he regarded the Ukrainian President’s visit as an important
milestone to pave the way for new prospects and a driving force for the two
countries to strengthen and enhance their “comprehensive partnership and
co-operation”. The
Ukrainian President said he was happy to see Ukraine’s ties with Viet Nam being
elevated to “comprehensive partnership and co-operation”, affirming that Ukraine
regarded Viet Nam as an important partner in Southeast Asia. There
was a meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Ukrainian President
Viktor Yanukovych during which both asserted the two countries’ determination to
deepen their wide-ranging co-operation. PM Dung
expressed his hope that Viet Nam’s co-operation with Ukraine would broaden in
culture, science and technology, security and defence, and especially in
education and training, while underlining the need to resume trade after it was
affected by the global economic crisis.
President Viktor Yanukovych said, ” Ukraine is ready to co-operate and assist
Viet Nam in the fields of oil and gas, mineral processing, science and
technology, space technology, the manufacturing of power generators, security
and defence.”
Joint
statement
 |
President Nguyen Minh
Triet (left) and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych at the Presidential
Palace in Ha Noi. | Viet Nam
and Ukraine on Saturday signed a joint statement to define their future
comprehensive partnership and co-operation during President Yanukovych’s visit.
President Triet underscored that when implementing foreign policy, Viet Nam had
always placed importance on strengthening and promoting its ties with
traditional friends, including Ukraine.
The two
presidents agreed that the resumption and enhancement of high-level political
contacts had provided favourable conditions for Viet Nam and Ukraine to step up
wide-ranging co-operation.
Presidents Triet and Yanukovych reached a consensus on the need to draw up a
master plan on the development of the two countries’ co-operation in all fields
to maximise each country’s strength.
They
also agreed that Viet Nam and Ukraine would continue to perfect the legal
foundations for bilateral co-operation, adopt workable measures to increase
trade value, and study the possibility of signing a free trade agreement. The two
presidents asserted that investment would be focused in the fields of energy,
mechanical engineering, the manufacturing of machinery, engines and equipment
for power, and chemical plants and shipyards, while co-operation would be
expanded in agriculture, banking, aviation and space technology. They
promised to encourage businesses to exchange information, establish direct
partnerships, and undertake co-operative forms of high efficiency, including the
formation of joint ventures. “Viet
Nam welcomes and is willing to create favourable conditions for Ukrainian
entrepreneurs to invest in the areas that fit Viet Nam’s needs for
industrialisation and modernisation,” Triet said. The two
leaders also laid stress on the importance of continuing to speed up
co-operation in education and training, science and technology, military
technology, culture, and others. They
agreed to organise the two countries’ cultural days in 2012 to mark the 20th
anniversary of their diplomatic ties.
President Triet spoke highly of Ukraine’s current move to launch the HCM
City-Kiev direct flight service, saying it would help boost ties and tourism.
The two
presidents recognised the contributions made by Vietnamese citizens living and
working in Ukraine and those Ukrainians studying and working in Viet Nam to
consolidating and developing the two countries’ friendship and co-operation. In the
spirit of mutual understanding and trust, they discussed and reached a consensus
on many regional and international issues of mutual concern. Viet Nam
noted Ukraine’s backing for its candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN
Security Council in the 2016-17 term while Ukraine noted Viet Nam’s support for
its candidacy to the UN Security Council in the 2020-21 term.
President Viktor Yanukovych expressed his hope that Viet Nam would act as a
bridge for Ukraine to bolster its ties with ASEAN and Southeast Asian countries.
At the
end of the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a host of
co-operative documents, including an inter-governmental agreement on educational
co-operation and an agricultural co-operation framework agreement between the
Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ukrainian
Ministry for Food and Agricultural Policies. A
cultural co-operation programme for the 2011-15 period between the Vietnamese
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ukrainian Culture Ministry was
also signed, along with a co-operation plan between the two Foreign Ministries
for the 2011-12 period, and a banking co-operation agreement. On the
day, the Viet Nam-Ukraine Investment and Trade Forum was held in Ha Noi in the
presence of Presidents Yanukovych and Triet.
VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News | 
