VNA reported that at exactly 13:20 on March 9, the plane carrying General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation arrived at the military airport of Halim Perdanakusuma, Jakarta, starting a state visit to the Republic of Indonesia, and an official visit to the ASEAN Secretariat from March 9-11, at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, President of the Great Indonesia Movement Party ( Gerindra) Prabowo Subianto, ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn.
Welcoming General Secretary To Lam and his wife and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation at Halim Perdanakusuma Military Airport, on the Indonesian side were: Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Indonesia to Vietnam Denny Abdi and many Indonesian officials.
On the Vietnamese side were: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Vietnam to Indonesia Ta Van Thong and his wife; Ambassador, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to ASEAN Ton Thi Ngoc Huong, along with a large number of officials of the Embassy and the Vietnamese Delegation to ASEAN.
General Secretary To Lam and his wife stepped down from the plane on the mat of honor, walked between two rows of martyrs, stopped in front of the flags of the two countries and bowed; shook hands with Indonesian officials and representatives of Vietnam to welcome them.
At Halim Perdanakusuma Military Airport, 7 welcoming lanterns - a solemn ceremony demonstrating Indonesia's respect for the visit of the General Secretary and his wife and the high-ranking delegation of Vietnam.
This is the first visit of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam to Indonesia in nearly 8 years (since August 2017) and is a historic visit, also the first time the General Secretary of Vietnam has visited the ASEAN Secretariat.
The visit took place on the occasion of Vietnam celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with Indonesia, the first country in South Asia to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam in.
After 70 years, especially since the Strategic Partnership was established (in 2013), cooperation between the two countries has become more and more comprehensive and extensive; delegation exchanges and high-level contacts take place regularly at both bilateral and multilateral forums.
The visit also took place on the occasion of Vietnam's 30th anniversary of joining ASEAN, marking a historic milestone in the process of regional and international integration. Vietnam's contributions are associated with ASEAN's meaningful development steps, contributing to strengthening the united, self-reliant and open ASEAN Community.
