PM Dung meets with Haiti leaders

Viet Nam wishes to expand its co-operation with Haiti, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung declared to the country's President Michel Martelly during a meeting in Port-au-Prince on Saturday.

Haiti was the final stop in Prime Minister Dung's overseas tour, which previously took him to the Netherlands and Cuba.


At the meeting, PM Dung congratulated the Haitian government and people on their achievements in maintaining socio-economic stability, boosting economic integration and overcoming the devastating consequences of the earthquake that hit the country in 2010.

The two leaders expressed belief that the sound relationship between their nations would provide strong grounds for advancing bilateral co-operation.

They noted with pleasure that Viet Nam-Haiti relations had seen positive developments, especially since Haitian PM Laurent Salvador Lamothe's official visit to Viet Nam in December 2012.

The upturn was also demonstrated by the Haitian government's opening of an embassy in Ha Noi in 2013, the signing of a framework agreement on bilateral trade and investment and enhanced co-operation in telecommunication and food security.

President Martelly said he hoped that through Dung's visit to Haiti, the first by a Vietnamese leader, both sides would reach consensus on measures to expand collaboration in agriculture, energy, infrastructure development and expert exchange.

The leaders also agreed that the two countries should promote consultation and co-ordination on regional and international issues, while working closely with each other at multilateral forums to jointly navigate the ever-changing global geopolitical situation.

PM Dung also met with his Haitian counterpart Laurent Salvador Lamothe and discussed ways to boost their bilateral partnership in economics, trade and investment in Port-au-Prince.

Through the Joint Commission for Trade and Investment, they planned to expand co-ordination in areas of potential such as telecommunications, food security, energy, trade and health care.

Both host and guest pledged to nurture two-way trade and investment on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

PM Laurent Lamothe hailed Dung's visit, which he said laid a firm foundation for the two-way relationship to grow through the establishment of legal mechanisms and frameworks conducive to co-operation. He revealed that negotiations were underway for a framework agreement on co-operation, investment promotion and protection and a visa waiver for diplomatic and official passport holders.

Also on Saturday, PM Dung and National Assembly (NA) Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan met with President of the Haitan Senate Simon Dieuseul Desras and President of the House of Representatives Jacques Stevenson Thimoleon.

The two sides expressed satisfaction with their recently growing economic links, demonstrated by food security co-operation and the efficient telecom model of NATCOM, a joint venture between Viet Nam's military telecom group Viettel and the Haitian government.

The Vietnamese leader conveyed NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung's invitation to the Haitian legislators to attend the 132nd General Assembly of the Inter-Parliament Union (IPU-132) scheduled for March 2015 in Viet Nam.

Strengthening ties

In the joint statement signed by PM Dung and his Haitian counterpart PM Laurent Lamothe, Viet Nam and Haiti will work to speed up the signing of agreements to create a robust legal framework for the development of bilateral relations.

The two countries will exert efforts to implement the Memorandum of Understanding on energy cooperation reached between Viet Nam's Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Haiti Office of Minister Delegate for Energy Security. The efforts will run alongside accelerated negotiations for other agreements on cultural affiliation and investment encouragement, the statement said.

The two sides will also bolster their partnership in other areas, including agriculture and food security, telecommunications, trade, infrastructure building and investment.

Viet Nam and Haiti will also look to create favourable conditions for joint cultural activities, while also streamlining travel between the two countries to ensure closer relations, it added.

The two countries will also look to support each other at international forums on matters of mutual concern.

In the document, the two sides also underscored the importance of fostering the South-South Cooperation framework to the enhancement of living conditions for people in both countries.