General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President Nguyen Phu Trong hosted a welcome ceremony in the highest rituals for a head of State for Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei in Hanoi on March 27 morning. 

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President Nguyen Phu Trong (R) and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah at the welcome ceremony

The Sultan of Brunei is on a State visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Party leader and President Trong from March 26-28.  

Earlier, the Sultan laid a wreath at the monument to heroic martyrs and paid floral tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum. 

This is the second visit to Vietnam by the Bruneian Sultan after more than two decades with a view to tightening friendship, promoting bilateral and multilateral partnership towards the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties by 2020. 

Vietnam and Brunei set up diplomatic ties in 1992. As members of ASEAN, both countries have made significant contributions to the bloc’s collaboration across all fields, identifying its future development and cooperation orientations as well as major decisions and policies. 

They have joined efforts to strengthen solidarity, improve the role and position of ASEAN in the region and the world, and ensure regional peace, stability, collaboration, and development. 

In the realm of politics, the two sides have maintained high-level visits and meetings, including visits to Brunei by President Tran Duc Luong in 2001, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in 2007, and President Truong Tan Sang in 2012. 

During the official visit to Brunei by President Tran Dai Quang in 2016, the two sides signed a joint statement under which they committed to intensifying the bilateral economic ties, aiming to raise two-way trade to 500 million USD by 2025 and facilitate investment and business links between the two countries. 

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has also visited Vietnam and attended the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forums hosted by the country. 

In 2017, the two countries marked the 25th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties with the first meeting of the Vietnam-Brunei Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation in Hanoi. The second meeting was scheduled for 2019 in Brunei. 

Brunei has supported Vietnam in joining such international forums as the UNESCO Executive Board for 2015-2019, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for 2016-2018, and the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for 2020-2021. The two countries have also cooperated fruitfully within ASEAN and other regional and international forums.-VNA