Vietnamese president holds talks with Israeli counterpart

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang held talks here on Wednesday with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres during the latter's visit to Vietnam. Sang welcomed Peres and his entourage, saying his visit is a vivid symbol of the developing relations and cooperation between the two countries. The Vietnamese leader informed his guest of the country's achievements in the renewal process and confirmed its consistent policy to be a credited friend and partner of other countries across the world for peace, independence and development. In its foreign policy of diversification and multilateralization, Vietnam attaches importance to developing relations and cooperation with the West Asian countries, including Israel, and supporting the process of negotiation and peaceful settlement of conflicts, including those between Israel and Palestine, based on international laws, for legitimate interest of the related parties, Sang added. In his reply, Peres expressed his pleasure to visit Vietnam, saying he has a great respect for the late President Ho Chi Minh, and achievements that the Vietnamese people had obtained in their fight for national independence in the past and in national construction and development at present. The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the development of relations and cooperation between the two countries in recent years, confirming that the two sides are determined to further develop their bilateral ties in the coming years, especially in science and technology, agriculture, trade, investment and tourism. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern, saying they want to enhance exchange of information and contribute to common efforts for peace, stability, cooperation and development. Peres is paying a visit to Vietnam from Nov. 22-26 at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Truong Tan Sang. On this occasion, he invited Sang to visit Israel, and his invitation was accepted.