Myanmar President visits Vietnam and agrees to strengthen defense and economic cooperation

In addition, we met with Rum and agreed to cooperate in responding to crimes such as fraud.

(Hanoi = Yonhap News) Correspondent Park Jin-hyung = Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing, who went from being the head of a military regime to becoming the president of a military-led civilian government, visited Vietnam and met with Vietnam's Communist Party Secretary General and President Rum and agreed to strengthen defense cooperation.

According to the state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on the 6th (local time), Secretary General Rum and President Min Aung Hlaing held a summit meeting the day before and agreed to make defense and security cooperation a key axis of the relationship between the two countries.

The two leaders agreed to expand cooperation in the areas of exchanges between young officers, search and rescue operations, and disaster response, and to strengthen information sharing and cooperation to combat crimes such as online fraud, drugs, and human trafficking.

In addition, they emphasized the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea, and agreed that disputes should be resolved through peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In the economic field, the two countries plan to expand the economy, trade, and investment and seek opportunities for cooperation in the fields of high-tech agriculture, food processing, communications and information technology (IT), digital transformation, and energy and transportation infrastructure.

The two leaders also agreed to cooperate so that Myanmar can serve as the chairman of the next meeting of the Ayeyarwady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) summit, an economic cooperation system for countries in the Mekong River basin.

Secretary General and President Rum congratulated Myanmar's civilian government, under the leadership of President Min Aung Hlaing, who took office in April, for achieving important achievements within five months of its inauguration.

“Vietnam is ready to share its experience in national development, ensuring economic security and promoting sustainable growth,” he said.

President Min Aung Hlaing responded by saying that he would like to learn from Vietnam's development experience and that he would strive to create a friendly environment where Vietnamese companies can make stable long-term investments in businesses in Myanmar.

He also requested that Secretary General Rum and his wife visit Myanmar next year, which marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive cooperative partnership between the two countries.

President Min Aung Hlaing, who took power through a military coup in February 2021, had little exchange with foreign countries while he was the head of the military regime, but since taking office, he has been making efforts to return to the international community by visiting India, China, Laos, Thailand, and Russia in succession.