Indonesian media highlights President Phuc’s visit

The website belonging to the Indonesia Presidential Palace said that during a bilateral meeting held on December 22, President Joko Widodo and his Vietnamese counterpart discussed a range of measures aimed at enhancing the strategic partnership both bilaterally and regionally.

As part of the occasion, President Widodo praised the Vietnamese Government for its trust of Indonesian companies. He stated his wish that several problems faced by Indonesian investors would be dealt with in order to facilitate new projects in the near future.

In response, President Phuc agreed with the host that as a means of overcoming challenges, the two nations must strengthen political trust and economic ties.

Meanwhile, the official website of the Indonesian President’s Secretariat said that at a meeting held following the State-level welcome ceremony, President Widodo underlined Indonesia’s strong commitments to continuing to reinforce the bilateral strategic partnership and called on Vietnam to strengthen ASEAN.

Indonesian news agency Antara, for its part, said during the joint press conference held with President Phuc on December 22, President Widodo announced that the two nations had completed negotiations on delimitation of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) after 12 years of talks.

President Phuc also affirmed that Vietnam fully supports the theme of Indonesia's 2023 ASEAN Chairmanship Year "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth", emphasising that the meeting between the two leaders is a driving force for both sides to co-operate for the greater benefit of their people.

According to the CNN Indonesia television, the Vietnamese leader said that the two countries have agreed to define the boundary of the EEZ in accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In addition to the EEZ, the two countries also signed three memoranda of understanding (MoU) on co-operation in energy and mineral resources, fighting terrorism, and combating drug trafficking.

Aside from the three MoUs, President Widodo also stated his hope that a bilateral agreement on fisheries and the elimination of illegal, unreported and undocumented fishing will be finalised soon, said newswire Okezone

The same day saw Solo Pos newspaper report that the Indonesian President expects to launch a new direct flight between Da Nang and Denpasar, as well as between Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta. He therefore suggested resuming direct flights between the two countries’ economic and tourism hubs.