International Convention Centre, Brunei Darussalam
10 October 2013

President Benigno S. Aquino III held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on the final day of the 23rd ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Brunei Darussalam.

In his welcome greetings, the Vietnamese Prime Minister relayed his great honor to meet the President once again as bilateral cooperation between the two countries continue to move onwards. He expressed his desire for the said cooperation to reach a new level by working together in boosting trade and tourism.

The Philippines and Vietnam have enjoyed good diplomatic relations throughout the years and have signed agreements in the areas of economics, science and technology, and culture.

Last August, both of the countries’ defense ministers held talks in Manila to assess their joint defense and military establishments, as well as to explore other cooperative initiatives to include humanitarian assistance and disaster relief cooperation given both countries’ experience on natural disasters. An exchange of security issues of mutual concern, particularly the situation in the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea, were also discussed by the defense ministers.

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