The willingness was expressed by Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Indonesian President Joko Widodo during a joint press conference held in Jakarta at the end of the official talks.

The leaders, Voice of Vietnam said in a report, also expressed their willingness to promote the regional bloc’s central role and maintain their common stance on the East Sea.

In addition, they will strive to ensure peace, security, safety and freedom of maritime and air navigation in these waters on the basis of international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).

The presidents called for a more balanced and sustainable trade exchange and pledged to create favourable conditions for companies from the two countries to diversify investment fields, especially in digital transformation, digital and green economy, renewable energy, tourism and services.

They also anticipated that bilateral trade exchange could reach US$13 billion this year and expressed determination to raise that figure to US$15 billion by 2028.

They stressed that in 2023 the two countries will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Strategic Partnership, which they considered will open a new page in binational cooperation.

This is the first trip to Indonesia by a senior Vietnamese leader after the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and also the first, in the past nine years, by a President of the Indochinese nation.

Vietnam and Indonesia established diplomatic relations in 1955 and took it to the level of strategic partnership in 2013.