VN, Brunei talks ways to boost ties VGP – Viet Nam and Brunei have agreed to maintain exchange of high-ranking visits to tighten mutual understanding and confidence. State President Truong Tan Sang and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei inspect guard of honor, Istanal Nurul Iman Palace, Brunei, November 27, 2012 – Photo: VGP/Nguyen Kim State President Truong Tan Sang and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah reached the agreement during their talks on Tuesday. The two leaders also agreed to organize the first meeting of the Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation to figure out measures to enhance cooperation, particularly in economics, trade and investment. The two-way trade in the first nine months stood at US$500 million. Brunei is the 12th biggest foreign investors in Viet Nam with 129 projects capitalized at US$4.9 billion. Both sides said national defense cooperation has witnessed considerable progress. They agreed to consider the establishment of a hot line between the two Navies and sign an agreement on crime prevention cooperation. State President Sang and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah vowed to strengthen cooperation in potential fields like agriculture-aquaculture, petroleum, labor, tourism, education and transport. Regarding regional and international issues, the two sides affirmed their determination to continue supporting each other at forums, especially ASEAN and the United Nations, work with other ASEAN member States to build the ASEAN Community by 2015. State President Sang reiterated that Viet Nam advocates and actively coordinates with Brunei to fulfill the latter’s role as ASEAN Chair in 2013. Meanwhile, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah said Brunei supports Viet Nam to host the APEC Summit in 2017. The two leaders were unanimously agreed on the principle of ensuring peace, stability, security, maritime safety and freedom in the East Sea and settling disputes through peaceful measures on the basis of international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They welcomed ASEAN’s Six-Point Principles on the East Sea and ASEAN-China Joint Statement on the 10th Anniversary of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC). Both sides stressed the necessity to fully observe DOC and work towards the signing of a Code of Conduct (COC). After the talks, State President Sang and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah witnessed the signing ceremony of some cooperative documents on banking and petroleum cooperation./. By Huong Giang