Santo Domingo (VNA) – Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham M💝inh Chinh and President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader Corona held talks in Santo Domingo on November 20 morning (local time) as part of the Vietnamese leader's official visit to the Caribbean country.

Both leaders affirmed the significance of the first high-level visit since Vietnam and the Dominican Republic established their diplomatic ties on July 7, 2005, hailing it as a historic milestone and a vital impetus for elevating the bilateral ties to a new stage of deeper and more practical development. PM Chinh conveyed the regards from Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and their invitations to President Abinader Corona to visit Vietnam in 2025 on the occasion of the 20th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties to further elevate the bilateral ties based on the strong current foundation. The President accepted the invitations with pleasure, with the visit's exact timing to be coordinated through diplomatic channels. Both sides expressed their satisfaction with the positive strides in the bilateral friendship and cooperation, particularly in politics-diplomacy, economy, trade, and development cooperation, as well as their mutual support at multilateral forums. They underscored the significance of preserving and promoting the value of late President Ho Chi Minh Monument in Santo Domingo and the monument in Hanoi dedicated to Professor Juan Bosch, the first President of the Dominican Republic, lauding them as symbol of the bilateral solidarity and friendship.

The host and guest agreed on the need to further facilitate high-level and all-level exchanges and meetings via Party, Government and Parliamentary channels, as well as locality-to-locality and people-to-people exchanges. These efforts aim to strengthen the foundation of political relations, enhance mutual understanding, and provide a solid basis to expand and improve the effectiveness of the bilateral ties. They also stressed the necessity to improve the legal framework for bilateral cooperation, maximise the effectiveness of the political consultation mechanism between the two foreign ministries and soon hold the second political consultation. Both sides agreed to expand and deepen bilateral cooperation in all areas, particularly in economy, trade, investment, avoiding double taxation, agriculture, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transition, digital economy, telecommunications, renewable energy, security and crime prevention, sustainable tourism development, culture, education, environmental protection, and climate change response. They also agreed to hold the first session of the Joint committee for economic, trade, and industrial cooperation soon. PM Chinh proposed the two sides negotiate a free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement, as well as agreements on cultural, educational, and training cooperation, and another on ordinary visa exemption. For his part, President Abinader Corona expressed his gratitude to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for effectively providing vaccines against African swine fever to the Dominican Republic. The two leaders emphasised the need and potential to expand business and investment cooperation between the two countries, especially in telecommunications, energy and oil, construction, agriculture, and tourism. They shared the view on the necessity of enhancing trade and investment promotion activities, connecting businesses, and facilitating market access for each country’s strong export items, while also using each country as a gateway to access the markets of the Southeast Asian and Latin America-Caribbean regions. The two leaders affirmed their commitments to promoting multilateralism, enhancing cooperation, and supporting each other in international organisations and multilateral forums of which both are members, such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Non-Aligned Movement, the South-South cooperation framework, and the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), for the benefit of the people of both countries and to contribute to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in both regions and the world. Discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern, both sides agreed to support the settlement of international disputes and disagreements through peaceful means, in accordance with international law, particularly the UN Charter and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Following the talks, the two leaders chaired a joint press conference and announce the Vietnam-Dominican Republic Joint Declaration, reaffirming the determination of both governments and outlining the directions and measures agreed upon to further strengthen the solidarity, friendship, and cooperation between the two countries in the future./.