Vietnam and Malaysia have agreed to deepen their strategic partnership, especially in drilling for oil and gas as the two heads of government joined talks in Hanoi on Tuesday.

The meeting was held on Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's official visit to Vietnam on August 27 and 28, at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

This is PM Mohamad’s first tour of Vietnam after he was re-elected in May 2018. His most recent visit to the Southeast Asian country took place 20 years ago.

During Tuesday’s conversation, the two leaders consented on boosting strategic partnership in multiple fields, namely national defense and security, energy, fishery, education, labor, and tourism.

Both sides will provide favorable conditions for Petronas and PetroVietnam, the respective national oil and gas groups of the two countries, to collaborate in oil and gas exploration and exploitation, as well as the provision of related services.

The cooperation is considered necessary as the two countries are striving to elevate bilateral trade turnover to US$15 billion in 2020.

Vietnam and Malaysia, as two neighbors bordering the East Vietnam Sea with associated security and interests, will closely cooperate with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ensure peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the maritime area.

The two premiers stressed the importance of settling disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Following the talks, the leaders witnessed the signing of multiple cooperative agreements between the two countries.

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