Vietnam, Philippines strengthen strategic partnership
The official visit to Vietnam by Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte from September 28-29 is expected to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, especially in politics, security, defence, and economics. This is President Duterte’s first visit to Vietnam and his fourth foreign trip since he took office on June 30 this year. Vietnam and the Philippines set up diplomatic ties in July 1976. They signed a bilateral cooperation framework for the first 25 years of the 21 st century and beyond in November 2002. The bilateral friendship and multi-faceted cooperation have been developing well based on mutual trust. In October 2011, Vietnam and the Philippines inked an action programme for 2011-2016 to implement the bilateral cooperative relations in various fields. In November 2015, the two countries’ foreign ministers signed a Joint Statement to establish the bilateral strategic partnership, ushering in a new era for bilateral cooperation.
