Maritime cooperation was highlighted between top diplomats of Vietnam and the Philippines at the 10th Meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) in Hanoi on August 2.

Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in Hanoi on August 2. Photo: MOFA

The view was shared by Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, who discussed different measures for tightened collaboration and handling problems arising at sea.

Specific measures include strengthening delegation exchanges and high-level contacts, especially the timely visit by Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. to Vietnam, and implementing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, such as the Joint Permanent Working Group on Maritime and Ocean Concerns, the Joint Sub-Committee on Trade, the Joint Working Group on Agriculture, and the Joint Working Group on Aquaculture.

In the Action Plan to implement the Strategic Partnership for 2025-2030 with a focus on defense and security, the two countries vow to enhance information sharing, coordinate for prompt handling of issues that arise at sea, and better combat illicit, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

In a speech at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam on August 1, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said Manila and Hanoi’s geography and status as major littoral countries in the East Sea (South China Sea) “make maritime cooperation a vital point of interaction” between the two nations, the Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported.

Manalo pointed out that as maritime nations at the heart of this seascape, it goes without saying   that Vietnam and the Philippines view safe and secure seas and sound marine ecosystems as integral to the future of Southeast Asian peoples and the region.

“Our two countries have in the past set a precedent for the responsible stewardship of these waters with a series of joint marine research expeditions of our scientists in the 1990s,” he added.

Comprehensive cooperation

Enrique Manalo expressed his excitement to travel to Vietnam, saying this is his first overseas visit after his confirmation as Foreign Affairs Secretary in September 2022. He reiterated that the Philippines always placed a high priority on strengthening and developing its cordial, cooperative, and multifaceted relations with Vietnam, the Philippines’ only strategic partner in ASEAN.

Secretary Manalo was welcomed by Minister Bui Thanh Son at the start of his official visit to Vietnam. The visit is very important as it helps further promote the strategic parntership between the two countries.

At the 10th meeting co-chaired by Bui Thanh Son and Enrique Manalo, the two sides reviewed the previous joint meeting held in March 2019 and discussed effective implementation of the Action Plan for 2025-2030.

Among the areas, the two countries targeted to raise two-way trade to US$10 billion from $8 billion in 2022, with a focus on rice trade.

In the first five months of this year, Vietnam exported 1.5 million tons of rice to the Philippines, accounting for 42.3% of the exporter’s total shipments. Vietnam earned $772.4 million from rice exports during the period, up 31% on year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The two sides also decided to advance cooperation in other crucial areas like agriculture, culture, tourism, education, transport, science and technology, environment, and people-to-people ties.

On the regional agenda, the two foreign ministers agreed to enhance mutal support at multilateral forums, especially in ASEAN and the United Nations while working together with other ASEAN member states to maintain solidarity and ASEAN Centrality, largely contributing to the bloc’s stability and prosperity.

The two ministers welcomed the cooperation between the two foreign ministries in exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual concern and the partnership between the two Diplomatic Academies.

The 11th meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation is scheduled to take place in the Philippines in 2025.