Burma's PM visits Vietnam
Burma's prime minister has visited Vietnam as part of a two-nation tour to acquaint himself with regional leaders.
Burma's Lieutenant General Thein Sein met Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and was also scheduled to meet with President Nguyen Minh Triet, the Foreign Ministry said.
Thein Sein and Dung posed briefly for photos before meeting behind closed doors in the prime minister's office. They took no questions from reporters.
In his brief welcome, Dung made no mention of the recent unrest in Burma, whose government recently used violence to suppress pro-democracy demonstrations.
Earlier this week, a spokesman for Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said Hanoi hopes Burma will cooperate with the UN to settle the political crisis peacefully.
Burma's military government appointed Thein Sein as prime minister in October. He had been acting prime minister since May, filling in for ailing General Soe Win, who died on October 12.
Before arriving in Hanoi, Thein Sein made a brief visit to Laos. He had planned to visit Cambodia after visiting Vietnam, but has cancelled that leg of his trip, said an official from the Burma embassy, who declined to give his name, citing policy.
Vietnam and Burma are members of the 10 nation Association of South-East Asian Nations, or ASEAN. It is customary for new ASEAN leaders to pay courtesy visits to member countries.
Dung visited Burma in August.
Burma has been condemned by nations around the world for its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters in September.
Security forces arrested thousands of protesters, and the government said 10 demonstrators were killed. Diplomats and dissidents say the actual death toll is much higher.
The UN security council condemned the crackdown, and UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari was in Burma this week to promote political reconciliation.
The Associated Press - November 9, 2007.
Vietnam eyes closer cooperative ties with Myanmar
Vietnam always attaches importance to consolidating and developing friendship and cooperation with Myanmar, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said during talks with his visiting Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein on Friday.
"Vietnam wants to see Myanmar stabilize quickly in order to create favorable conditions for the two countries' cooperation development, especially in the fields of economy, trade, agriculture, oil and gas, and telecommunications," Vietnam News Agency quoted Dung as saying.
As a neighbor of Myanmar and a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam has kept close watch on the situation in Myanmar and hopes the country will soon stabilize the situation to concentrate on national construction and development, he said, adding that his country supports the national reconciliation process in Myanmar.
The Vietnamese prime minister also lauded the recent cooperation between Myanmar and the U.N. Secretary General's Special Envoy and expressed hope that the cooperation would continue to be accelerated to achieve positive outcomes in the future.
"Having been a victim of blockage and embargoes, Vietnam does not back the imposition of this measure on Myanmar," he said, noting that the support of each ASEAN member and the entire group is very important in helping Myanmar overcome its current difficulties.
Thein Sein, who arrived here Friday for a two-day official visit to Vietnam, informed Dung of recent development in his country, including the Myanmar government's efforts to stabilize the situation and its cooperation with the Special Envoy of the U.N. Secretary General towards national reconciliation.
During the talks, the two sides agreed to boost bilateral coordination to prepare for their sixth Inter-governmental joint committee in 2008 and the third political consultation meeting between the two foreign ministries in Myanmar late this year.
They also discussed regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the upcoming 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore.
Also on Friday, Thein Sein met with Vietnamese State President Nguyen Minh Triet.
Vietnam and Myanmar have exchanged high-level delegations, including Dung's official visit to Myanmar in August, and late Myanmar Prime Minister Soe Win's official trip to Vietnam in April2005.
Trade between Vietnam and Myanmar stood at 70 million U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of this year, compared with 71.9 million dollars last year, according to statistics of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Xinhua - November 10, 2007.
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