Vietnam Party Chief To Lam Visits Indonesia, Agrees To Upgrade Bilateral Ties – OpEd

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) To Lam visited Indonesia from March 9-11 to upgrade bilateral relations and to mark 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

During his historic visit, which was his first visit to Indonesia, Lam met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, Indonesian House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani and several others.

This year, Vietnam is celebrating 70 years of diplomatic relations with Indonesia and 30 years of its joining in ASEAN. 

The important outcome from this visit was to upgrade Vietnam’s relations with Indonesia to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. With this, now Vietnam has Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships with Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia.

The upgrade was a historic milestone that ushers in a new era of deeper, more substantive and comprehensive cooperation. This upgrade aims to serve the interests of both nations and contribute to peace, development and prosperity in ASEAN and the world.

“We have agreed in our meeting that we want to enhance our relations, our cooperation. We want to upgrade our relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership,” the AFP news agency reported quoting Prabowo as saying at a press  conference after his meeting with Lam on March 10.

Both Vietnam and Indonesia have long demonstrated their dedication to the principles of ASEAN—peace, stability, and regional cooperation. 

Regarding regional and international issues of mutual concern, both sides emphasised the importance of maintaining peace, security, stability, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea or the South China Sea. They reiterated their support for peaceful resolution of disputes, non-use or threat of force and adherence to international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 

This enhanced relationship will create new opportunities to jointly address contemporary issues, from sustainable economic development to emerging security threats in the Indo-Pacific region. 

On the economic front, the bilateral relationship has already been marked by dynamic trade, growing investment, and fruitful technological exchanges. By upgrading to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Indonesia and Vietnam can further unlock potential in pivotal sectors such as infrastructure, technology, and renewable energy. 

Enhanced economic cooperation is expected to spur innovation, create jobs, and build resilience against economic uncertainties, laying the groundwork for sustainable, long-term prosperity for both nations. 

Strategically, a deeper partnership will also bolster their capabilities in confronting regional and global security challenges. Joint initiatives, such as coordinated defense exercises, intelligence sharing, and collaborative approaches to cyber security, can significantly enhance their ability to safeguard their national interests. As security threats become increasingly multifaceted, an elevated strategic partnership will provide a robust framework for mutual support and collective defense. 

According to the Antara news agency, the defence ministries of Indonesia and Vietnam have agreed to step up cooperation in the procurement of weapons and their defence equipment.

The cooperation was highlighted during a meeting between Minister of Defence, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, and Vietnamese National Defence Minister Phan Van Giang at the former’s office in Central Jakarta on March 10.

“Among the points discussed at the meeting was defence industry cooperation. The two countries have been collaborating for the purchase of aircraft, helicopters, and bombs,” the Antara reported quoting Defence Ministry’s information bureau head, Brigadier General Frega Ferdinand Wenas Inkiriwang as saying.

However, he did not specify the types of fighter jets or helicopters involved in the defence cooperation.

Upgrading the two countries bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is an essential step forward. It affirms their commitment to move beyond surface-level exchanges, into a realm of deeper, more substantive engagement—one that is equipped to address modern challenges and champion shared prosperity for both Indonesia and Vietnam. 

Prabowo affirmed that Việtnam and Indonesia shared many historical similarities, common values and a shared vision, with both aspiring to become advanced, high-income nations by 2045.

The Indonesian President said that Việtnam remained an important partner for Indonesia in the region and expressed Indonesia’s desire to further strengthen ties with Việtnam.

Lâm emphasised that Việtnam highly valued and prioritised its relationship with Indonesia, recognising the country’s key role in the region.

The Party chief commended Indonesia’s achievements and expressed confidence that Indonesia would achieve a high annual growth rate of 8 percent, becoming a developed nation by the time it celebrates its centennial in 2045. He also shared updates on Việtnam’s overall situation.

Prabowo said he would visit Vietnam soon to sign “an implementing agreement on cooperation in our economic zone”, saying he hoped the Indonesian parliament would ratify the deal next month.

Prabowo visited Vietnam as president-elect in September 2024 as he signalled he would play a more active role on the world stage in a foreign policy shift from his predecessor, Joko Widodo, who prioritised domestic affairs.

According to the Vietnam News newspaper, the two leaders agreed to enhance exchanges and high-level contacts across all channels, effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms and swiftly develop an Action Plan to elevate collaboration in all fields.

Both sides committed to strengthening defence and security cooperation, including intelligence sharing, search and rescue efforts and experience-sharing in combating transnational crimes, particularly online fraud networks, human trafficking, forced labour and terrorism threats.

They also agreed to expand economic cooperation, remove trade barriers and facilitate business activities, particularly in the export and import of agricultural and aquatic products, with the goal of soon reaching US$18 billion in bilateral trade turnover.

Both sides committed to creating favourable conditions for businesses from the two countries to invest in each other’s markets, especially in emerging sectors such as the digital economy, green economy, energy transition, electric vehicle ecosystem development, e-commerce, smart delivery systems, digital payments, software design and manufacturing for production plants, AI-driven technological solutions and halal-certified products.

They also pledged to expand sectoral cooperation in science and technology, innovation and information technology, aiming to establish a digital partnership.

The two leaders underscored the importance of promoting people-to-people exchanges, particularly among the younger generations. 

Following their talks, the two leaders witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents, including a Letter of Intent between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs on cooperation to enhance capacity in technical and digital economy sectors; a Letter of Intent on cooperation in science, technology, and innovation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Indonesian Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology; and an Implementation Agreement on cooperation between the Directorate of Fisheries of Việtnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Directorate General of Aquaculture of Indonesia’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in the field of aquaculture.

Lam called on ASEAN to become a global production hub during his visit to the bloc’s headquarters in Jakarta.

Speaking in front of ASEAN diplomats, Lam delivered a policy speech that listed on what the 10-member grouping should do in the coming years to “elevate its prestige” on the international stage. The proposed to-do list includes taking advantage of ASEAN’s strengths to produce goods and services on a global scale.

“[We should] strengthen economic resilience, harness, and capitalize on ASEAN’s strength of being a vast and highly promising space for economic development,” Lam said in his speech.

“[So we can] rise along the global supply chain and become a strategic production hub for the world,” he added.

Lam’s visit to Indonesia was a successful and instrumental in designing the future course of Vietnam and Indonesia relations.