Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani held a meeting with Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung and discussed bilateral relations and both the leaders agreed to expand their ties especially in trade, economic and defence sectors. The two leaders also discussed the aspects to further promote the ties between the two countries in the meeting which was held on the sidelines of second Nuclear Security Summit.
Prime Minister Gilani said Vietnam occupied a special place in Pakistan's vision East Asia and added that Pakistan accorded high priority to relations with Vietnam. Gilani said Pakistan was glad on the successful holding of the second Pak-Vietnam Joint Ministerial Commission in June 2010 in Islamabad and added that it would help in promoting relations between the two countries.
The Prime Minister said, "We admire the achievements of Vietnam in all fields of life particularly its fast economic development in recent years," adding the two countries could explore co-operation in the fields of agriculture, pharmaceuticals, fisheries, textile, oil and gas. Referring to close co-operation in defence sector, the PM told his counterpart from Vietnam, "We seek to further strengthen our bilateral co-operation in the defence field."
The PM said there was immense scope for improving bilateral co-operation in trade as the trade was around dollars 310 million in 2011, which did not reflect the potential that existed between the two countries. He asked Vietnam to sign Free Trade Agreement to boost the bilateral trade. He thanked Vietnam government for their support to Pakistan's candidature for the United Nations Security Council and the Human Rights Council. "This reflects the tradition of support that our countries extend to each other's candidature for international organisations and UN agencies," the PM said.
Referring to the importance of Asean, the PM deeply appreciated the valuable and continuing expression of support by Vietnam in Pakistan's quest for Full Dialogue Partner in Asean. The PM of Vietnam assured PM Gilani that he would talk to other members of the Asean to motivate them to support for Pakistan's membership. He asked Pakistan to extend its support for the membership of Vietnam in the Human Rights Commission of United Nations.
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