The agreement was announced during talks on June 1 between Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. in Manila during To Lam’s state visit to the Philippines.
At the talks, President Marcos extended a warm welcome to To Lam, his spouse and the high-level Vietnamese delegation, describing the visit as particularly significant as it marks the first visit to the Philippines by a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and coincides with the 50th anniversary of both nations’ diplomatic relations.
Marcos noted that Vietnam is the Philippines’ only Strategic Partner in Southeast Asia, underscoring the importance Manila attaches to the relationship. He said the decision to elevate ties to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership during the visit will further strengthen bilateral relations and open a new phase of cooperation in politics, defence and security, and other substantive areas for the benefit of both peoples and for regional peace, stability and development.
The top Vietnamese leader thanked President Marcos, the Philippine Government and people for their warm and gracious hospitality. He congratulated the Philippines on its socio-economic achievements in recent years, noting that the country has remained among ASEAN’s fastest-growing economies and has maintained stable growth.
He expressed confidence that under President Marcos’s leadership, the Philippines will achieve its goal of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2028 and successfully implement its development strategy through 2040, transforming its economic model towards a prosperous, inclusive and resilient society.
To Lam reaffirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to and wishes to further deepen its friendly neighbourly relations with the Philippines across all fields on the basis of a shared commitment to peace, stability and respect for international law.
The two leaders welcomed the positive and effective development of the Strategic Partnership since its establishment in 2015, particularly following President Marcos’s state visit to Vietnam in January 2024. They announced a Joint Statement elevating Vietnam-Philippines relations to an Enhanced Strategic Partnership, opening a new era in bilateral cooperation.
Under the upgraded framework, the two sides will work together to formulate an action programme for realize the new partnership. They also pledged to consolidate political trust and reinforce the strategic foundations of bilateral relations through increased high-level exchanges, effective use of existing cooperation mechanisms, and closer engagement among ministries, sectors, localities and relevant agencies of both countries.
The two countries agreed to consolidate and expand practical cooperation in defence and security, maritime affairs and ocean-related issues. They also reaffirmed their commitment to safeguarding freedom of navigation and aviation, maintaining regional peace and stability, and enhancing coordination and experience-sharing in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, protecting the marine environment and promoting sustainable fisheries development.
On trade, the two sides outlined broad directions for achieving breakthroughs in economic cooperation to deliver practical benefits for their people and support national development. They reaffirmed their goal of raising bilateral trade to US$10 billion, reducing trade barriers, diversifying exports, opening markets for agricultural products, including fresh fruits from both countries, and expanding cooperation into new areas such as the digital economy, the green economy, the marine economy, high-tech agriculture and renewable energy. They also consented to strengthen trade in agricultural, forestry and fishery products.
To Lam and Marcos also agreed to encourage relevant agencies to continue facilitating investment and trade promotion activities by businesses from each country in the other’s market.
Highlighting Vietnam as an important partner in supplying fertilisers and rice to support the Philippines’ food security, Marcos proposed that the two countries convene the third meeting of the Philippines-Vietnam Joint Commission for Trade Cooperation at an early date and accelerate the implementation of agreements reached within the framework and regulations of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Marcos said the Philippines welcomes Vietnamese investors seeking to expand operations in areas such as renewable energy, healthcare and digital transformation, adding that favourable conditions and incentives would be provided for Vietnamese businesses.
In education, culture and people-to-people exchanges, he expressed hope that more Vietnamese tourists will visit the Philippines and vice versa, while calling for stronger educational exchanges and academic cooperation between universities in the two countries, particularly in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence.
The two leaders also shared the view that practical cooperation should be booted in several priority areas, including sustainable and regenerative agriculture, infrastructure connectivity, the opening of additional direct air routes, stronger links between selected ports, digital transformation, digital government, artificial intelligence applications and smart city development.
On regional and international issues, host and guest reiterated their commitment to close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, particularly the United Nations and ASEAN. Marcos expressed appreciation for Vietnam’s support for the Philippines during its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2026.
Both sides emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability, ensuring maritime and aviation security, safety and freedom, and resolving disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
They also pledged to work with other ASEAN member states to speed up negotiations on an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in line with international law, particularly UNCLOS 1982.
The two leaders concurred to direct ministries, agencies and localities in both countries to closely coordinate in carrying out agreements reached by their leaders, thus contributing to a new period of development in the Vietnam-Philippines Enhanced Strategic Partnership.
Following the talks, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents between ministries and agencies of the two countries.
The documents included a Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence and the Philippine Department of National Defense; a Memorandum of Understanding between Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology on cooperation in information technology and digital transformation; a Tourism Cooperation Programme for 2026-2029 between Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Philippine Department of Tourism; and a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Academy of Public Administration and Governance under the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and the University of the Philippines.
