Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Pham Vinh Quang on December 10 spoke highly of Indonesia’s vanguard role in the ASEAN, while paying a courtesy call on President of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is former President of Indonesia.
Quang attributed Indonesia’s successes to the daily contributions of millions of Indonesian people, its government, and political parties, particularly the PDI-P under the leadership of Megawati.
He informed his host about the development in Vietnam-Indonesia ties, founded by President Ho Chi Minh and Megawati’s father President Soekarno, over the past 63 years, saying that the bilateral relationship was upgraded to the strategic partnership level in 2013.
The ambassador highlighted visits by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in 2017, Indonesian President Joko Widodo in September 2018 to sign a new action programme for 2019-2023, and a working trip to Bali by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in October 2018.
Megawati, for her part, said the bilateral strategic partnership needs to be nurtured and the two countries should work closely together to effectively realise the 2019-2023 action programme.
She thanked Vietnam for providing support for Indonesia’s initiatives and affirmed the importance of Vietnam-Indonesia cooperation at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forums and other multilateral ones, especially at the United Nations and the United Nations Security Council.
Megawati said she was planning to visit Vietnam in 2019, adding that she will be delighted to meet Vietnamese leaders and friends during the trip.
The former president said she is willing to attend and work with the Vietnamese embassy and units concerned to hold exhibitions and scientific seminars on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of historic visits by Presidents Soekarno and Ho Chi Minh.
