On August 19, at the Presidential Palace, Politburo member and President Luong Cuong and his wife presided over a solemn welcoming ceremony for King Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Queen and the high-ranking delegation of Bhutan.
Immediately after the state-level welcoming ceremony, President Luong Cuong and King Bhutan held talks.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an open, sincere, trusting and understanding atmosphere, President Luong Cuong warmly welcomed the Bhutanese King to visit Vietnam, affirming that the first visit of a head of state of Bhutan to Vietnam since the establishment of diplomatic relations (January 2012) and taking place on the occasion of Vietnam celebrating the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day on September 2, which is of special significance, opening a new page for the relationship between the two countries.
Expressing his pleasure at visiting Vietnam for the first time, the King expressed his desire to study and learn from the country's governance model and Vietnam's economic development experience; affirmed that Bhutan values Vietnam's role and position in the Asia-Pacific region and wishes to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in areas where both sides have strengths and potential for the benefit of the people of the two countries, for stable peace, cooperation and prosperity in the region and the world.
President Luong Cuong and King Jigme both agreed that the friendly relationship between Vietnam and the Kingdom of Bhutan is nurtured by the warm friendship, harmony in spiritual values and vision, and sustainable development philosophy.
In that spirit, the two sides agreed to continuously strengthen friendship and mutual understanding, promote more frequent high-level and all-level visits; promote the signing of cooperation agreements to facilitate the implementation of specific projects and activities.
Emphasizing the great potential for economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries, President Luong Dai and King Jigme agreed to encourage agencies, ministries and enterprises of the two countries to promote cooperation, facilitate the opening of doors for one country's key goods to access the market of the other country, towards diversifying the supply chain, striving to increase trade turnover many times in the coming time.
In addition, the two sides agreed to further expand cooperation in important areas such as agriculture, science and technology, innovation, education, training, culture, art; encourage airlines of the two countries to soon consider opening direct flights to promote cultural, religious, tourism and people-to-people exchanges; share experiences in honoring each country's traditional cultural heritage; and at the same time expand cooperation in new areas towards sustainable development, in order to improve the material and spiritual life of the people.
After the talks, President Luong Cuong and King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck witnessed the signing of two cooperation documents: the cooperation framework document between the two governments and the aviation sector cooperation document.
