Duterte invited again to visit Vietnam this year or 2020

Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh speaks at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN at the National Convention Center in Hanoi on September 13, 2018. AFP

MANILA, Philippines – For the third time, Vietnam is inviting President Rodrigo Duterte to visit the country later this 2019 or 2020, Malacañang said Thursday.

Vietnam extended the invitation after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh paid a courtesy call to President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang on Wednesday.

The President made a two-day official visit to Vietnam in September 2016.

READ: Duterte arrives in Vietnam for 2-day official visit

A year later, he again visited the country to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Malacañang said Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister “congratulated the President for the developments in the Philippines as well as the country’s pivotal role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).”

During his first visit to Vietnam, Duterte and the late Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang agreed to adopt measures to ensure maritime security, particularly in the disputed South China Sea.

READ: PH, Vietnam reaffirm maritime, security ties in Duterte visit

/kga