Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on November 29 as part of his ongoing official visit to Turkey, according to a report from the Government News.

President Erdoğan welcomed Prime Minister Pham’s visit to Turkey on the occasion of the 45^th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Turkey attaches importance to the multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam - a country that occupies an especially important position in Southeast Asia, the President affirmed.

He appreciated Vietnam’s valuable support and assistance for Turkey to overcome the consequences of the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck southern Turkey last February.

He also spoke highly of the capacity of Vietnam’s search and rescue teams.

Prime Minister Chinh congratulated Turkey on becoming one of the 20 largest economies in the world and hailed its contributions to maintaining peace, cooperation, and development in the Middle East and the world.

The two leaders agreed to boost cooperation between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Justice and Development Party of Turkey (AKP) as well as between the governments and parliaments of the two countries.

They took the occasion to compare notes on regional and international issues of shared concern, underlining the importance of compliance with international law to ensure peace, security, and development in the two regions and the globe.

Regarding economic cooperation, President Erdoğan expressed a wish to step up trade and investment cooperation with Vietnam in order to raise two-way trade to $5 billion in the near future.

The Turkish leader also suggested that the two countries expand cooperation in tourism, healthcare, and energy, and soon convene the 8th meeting of the Vietnam-Turkey Inter-Governmental Committee and the 5th political consultation between the two foreign ministries in the first half of 2024.

Prime Minister Chinh asked Turkey to facilitate the importation of Vietnamese goods such as footwear, farm produce, and aquatic products, and welcomed Turkish businesses to invest in the development of hydrogen, infrastructure, and logistics in Vietnam.

The two leaders agreed to accelerate cooperation on other fronts such as the Halal industry, agriculture, education and training, and people-to-people exchanges.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Chinh announced Vietnam’s donation of $500,000 through the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as humanitarian aid to Palestinian inhabitants in the Gaza Strip.