(VOVworld) – President Truong Tan Sang on Friday visited and delivered a speech at ASEAN Secretariat’s headquarters as part of his state visit to Indonesia.

During talks with ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh, President Sang said ASEAN should continue to strengthen internal and regional links, contributing to building an environment of peace and stability for cooperation and development. Sang said Vietnam supports the Secretariat’s role in the context that ASEAN is pushing for the establishment of an ASEAN Community. He also highlighted Vietnam’s consistent commitment to joining other nations to build a united ASEAN Community for peace, security and prosperity in the region. President Sang said: “Maritime security, safety and freedom in the East Sea are the common concern of regional countries. ASEAN should be proactively in formulating and enhancing common principles as stated in the Declaration of ASEAN’s 6-point Principles. It should boost dialogue, build trust and resolve disputes through peaceful means, respect international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. ASEAN should quickly finalize the Code of Conducts in the East Sea.

In his speech, President Sang said Vietnam is an active and responsible member of ASEAN and it is doing what it can to contribute to the bloc’s development. ASEAN continues to be one of the important pillars in Vietnam’s foreign policy.

The same day, President Sang attended a Vietnam-Indonesia Business Forum where he said Vietnam should learn from Indonesia’s experiences in economic development, investment cooperation and international economic integration: “We established diplomatic relations 60 years ago and ever since our cooperation has been fruitful. By upgrading bilateral ties to the level of strategic partnership, we hope that the two-way trade value between the two countries will double to 10 billion USD in 5-years time.