Brunei Darussalam
25 April 2013

President Benigno S. Aquino III met with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on the second day of the ASEAN Summit in Brunei. According to Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, the two leaders are happy with the progress of the current economic relations between the Philippines and Vietnam. He added that the Vietnamese leader expressed its support for the Philippines’ international initiatives on maritime security matters.

The Philippines and Vietnam both enjoy good diplomatic relations and have signed various agreements in the areas of economics, science and technology, and culture. The two countries have territorial disputes over the Spratly Islands along with Brunei, Malaysia, China and Taiwan. They both committed to follow a diplomatic approach and then base the decision in resolving the disputes in the West Philippine Sea on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

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