Duterte given honors, welcome at State Palace in Vietnam

President Rodrigo Duterte, center, reviews the honor guard with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. AP

HANOI, Vietnam—President Rodrigo Duterte was accorded honors and an official welcome at the State Palace on Thursday morning.

Arriving at 10:30 a.m., he was welcomed by State President Tran Dai Quang, who trooped the line of soldiers together with Duterte outside the Palace.

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Earlier in the morning, Duterte took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Monument for Heroes and Martyrs here.

Duterte will be meeting Vietnam’s top leaders, particularly prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two nations.

READ: Duterte eyes cooperation with Vietnam in sea row, war on drugs

He will also have an encounter with the general secretary of the central committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong.

Duterte is scheduled to leave for Davao on Friday night. RAM/rga