Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich chaired a ceremony to welcome Philippine Secretary of National Defence Delfin Lorenzana in Hanoi on March 11.

Minister of National Defence General Ngo Xuan Lich (R) and Philippine Secretary of National Defence Delfin Lorenzana

Following the ceremony, the two ministers held talks to exchange views on the current situation in each country, as well as in the region and the world. 

They also reviewed bilateral defence ties over the past few years, especially since the two defence ministries signed an agreement in the field in 2010 and the two countries elevated their relations to the level of strategic partnership in 2015.

The two ministers held that the defence relations between Vietnam and the Philippines have seen positive development in all realms, particularly the exchange of all-level delegation, dialogue mechanisms, consultations, naval cooperation, training, information sharing, deputy-ministerial level defence policy dialogues, joint working groups on defence, and bilateral navy consultations.

They agreed to further promote bilateral defence ties in the time ahead, emphasising the regular maintenance of exchanges and consultations, as well as supporting each other’s initiatives at multilateral forums. 

The Philippine side pledged to support Vietnam in hosting military-defence conferences and activities when Vietnam takes over as chair of ASEAN in 2020.

The two sides decided to boost cooperation in key fields, such as exchanges among young officers, the defence industry, non-traditional security, air forces, and military medicine.–VNA