Vietnam, Myanmar seek breakthroughs in economic cooperation: Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung
WVR/VNA - On August 26, Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung held meetings with Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing and Speaker of Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House) and Chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) Khin Yi .
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| Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung (left) and Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing (Photo: VNA) |
The meetings took place as part of Trung's official visit to Myanmar, where he co-chaired the 10th meeting of the Vietnam-Myanmar Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation.
The Myanmar President welcomed the successful organisation of the committee's meeting, saying it was a timely step that would help bring bilateral relations into a new period.
Affirming that Myanmar attaches importance to its traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam, founded by President Ho Chi Minh and General Aung San, Min Aung Hlaing expressed his belief that the meeting’s outcomes would help promote stronger, more substantive and deeper cooperation, particularly through increased exchanges across Party, State, Government and parliamentary channels, people-to-people exchanges and local-level cooperation.
He also called for breakthroughs in defence, economic, trade and investment cooperation.
The President noted that while political ties have remained strong, economic cooperation has declined considerably from pre-COVID-19 levels. Bilateral trade fell from 853 million USD in 2020 to 590 million USD in 2025, reaching 335 million USD in the first six months of 2026. As of June 30, Vietnam had only 107 valid investment projects in Myanmar with total registered capital of 1.4 billion USD.
Affirming continued support for Vietnamese businesses, including Mytel, the President pledged to further facilitate their investment and operations, particularly in telecommunications, education and training, agriculture, food processing, logistics, digital transformation, and science and technology.
Regarding regional and international cooperation, he thanked Vietnam for its support for Myanmar in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and international forums, and affirmed that Myanmar would continue working closely with Vietnam and other ASEAN members to uphold ASEAN centrality.
For his part, Foreign Minister Trung affirmed Vietnam’s support for Myanmar’s efforts to promote stability, reconciliation and dialogue, develop the economy, ensure security and safety, and improve people’s living standards.
To create breakthroughs in economic, trade and investment ties, Foreign Minister Trung proposed that the two sides study mechanisms to facilitate practical cooperation and support businesses. He also suggested establishing a Vietnam-Myanmar digital transformation programme, initially piloting practical projects before expanding successful models.
At the meeting with Speaker Khin Yi, Foreign Minister Trung conveyed regards from National Assembly President Tran Thanh Man and other Vietnamese leaders, congratulated Myanmar on the successful general election in early 2026 and the new government’s achievements in stabilising the country.
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| Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung and Speaker of Myanmar's Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House) and Chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) Khin Yi (Photo: VNA) |
Foreign Minister Trung affirmed that Vietnam always values the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperative partnership with Myanmar, and wishes to work with Myanmar to strengthen political trust in the new period through cooperation through Party, State, Parliament channels and people-to-people exchanges. He stressed that the two countries have many similarities in culture and history, as well as the close relationship between the two peoples that has been built and nurtured by generations of leaders, and affirmed that the Communist Party of Vietnam and the USDP have great potential for cooperation. The minister affirmed that Vietnam consistently supports a peaceful, stable, unified, and developing Myanmar.
Speaker Khin Yi congratulated Vietnam on its major achievements in the renewal process and expressed his desire to learn from Vietnam’s experience in policymaking, socio-economic management, institution building, human resources development, international integration, and resources attraction.
Foreign Minister Trung shared Vietnam’s experience over 40 years of renewal and international integration, highlighting the strategic orientations adopted at the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. He also spoke highly of the newly established Myanmar-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group, describing it as a foundation for promoting friendship and mutual understanding between the two peoples.
Earlier the same day, Foreign Minister Trung and his Myanmar counterpart Tin Maung Swe co-chaired the 10th meeting of the Vietnam-Myanmar Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation.
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| Vietnam, Myanmar seek breakthroughs in economic cooperation: At the 10th meeting of the Vietnam-Myanmar Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation (Photo: VNA) |
The two sides reviewed bilateral cooperation since the ninth meeting in March 2019, affirming that the 10th meeting was timely in setting out concrete orientations and creating fresh momentum for the two countries’ comprehensive cooperative partnership.
Welcoming new developments in bilateral ties, they agreed to step up cooperation at all levels through the Party, Government, State and parliament channels and between localities.
The two sides also agreed to optimise existing cooperation mechanisms and strengthen people-to-people diplomacy, contributing to increasingly substantive and closer bilateral ties towards the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive cooperative partnership in 2027.
They agreed to further promote defence and security cooperation through increased delegation exchanges, expanded training cooperation, young officers’ exchanges, and cultural and military sports exchanges, as well as collaboration in addressing non-traditional security challenges, including search and rescue, disaster relief, bomb and mine clearance, humanitarian assistance and military medicine.
Myanmar affirmed that it would continue coordinating closely with Vietnam in the fight against drug-related and cyber crimes. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment not to allow any organisation or individual to use either country’s territory to conduct activities against the other.
Determined to give a strong boost to economic, trade and investment cooperation, the two sides agreed to convene the 11th meeting of the Joint Trade Sub-Committee soon to promptly address difficulties, discuss cooperation measures and work towards their target of increasing bilateral trade to 1 billion USD. They also agreed to review agreements and commitments in economic, trade, customs and investment cooperation, while simplifying procedures related to import licensing, quarantine, quality standards and customs clearance, along with other areas of mutual interest.
Tin Maung Swe affirmed that the Myanmar Government would create favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to operate and expand investment, particularly in sectors where Myanmar has demand, including telecommunications, education and training, agriculture and food processing.
Regarding information and telecommunications infrastructure, he spoke highly of Vietnamese companies’ participation in providing telecommunications services in Myanmar, contributing to the development and upgrading of the country’s telecommunications infrastructure. He said Myanmar is interested in developing digital government and the digital economy, and called on Vietnamese businesses to actively participate in areas where they have strengths.
The two sides noted that cooperation in transport, agriculture, culture and sports, tourism, finance and banking, information and communications, and education and training had achieved positive results but still held considerable potential for further development.
Foreign Minister Trung proposed that Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos coordinate to upgrade transport routes, thereby strengthening connectivity among the three countries and across mainland Southeast Asia.
Exchanging views on regional and international issues of shared concern, the two sides reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and cooperation in the East Sea. They agreed to continue coordinating and supporting each other at regional and international forums, particularly ASEAN, the United Nations and Mekong subregional cooperation mechanisms. Foreign Minister Trung invited Myanmar representatives to attend the ASEAN Future Forum in Hanoi in 2027.
The two sides agreed to hold the 11th meeting of the Vietnam-Myanmar Joint Committee for Bilateral Cooperation in Vietnam in 2027.
