On the afternoon of March 9, the special plane carrying General Secretary To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma Military Airport, Jakarta, to begin a state visit to Indonesia and an official visit to the ASEAN Secretariat from March 9-11.

Welcoming General Secretary To Lam and his wife and delegation at the airport were: Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Indonesia to Vietnam Denny Abdi and many Indonesian officials.

On the Vietnamese side, there were: Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Ta Van Thong and his wife; Ambassador, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to ASEAN Ton Thi Ngoc Huong, along with staff of the Embassy and the Vietnamese Delegation to ASEAN.

General Secretary To Lam and his wife stepped down from the plane on the honor carpet, walked between two rows of honor guards, stopped before the national flags of the two countries and bowed; shook hands with Indonesian officials and representatives of the Vietnamese side who came to welcome them.

At Halim Perdanakusuma Military Airport, a 7-gun salute was fired - a solemn ceremony showing Indonesia's respect for the visit of the General Secretary and his wife and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation.

This is the first visit of the General Secretary to Indonesia after nearly 8 years (since August 2017) and is a historic visit, also the first time the General Secretary of Vietnam has visited the ASEAN Secretariat.

The visit took place on the occasion of Vietnam celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with Indonesia, the first country in Southeast Asia to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1955.

After 70 years, especially after the establishment of the Strategic Partnership (in 2013), cooperation between the two countries has become increasingly comprehensive and extensive; delegation exchanges and high-level contacts take place regularly both bilaterally and in multilateral forums.

The visit also coincided with the 30th anniversary of Vietnam joining ASEAN, a historic milestone in the process of regional and international integration. Vietnam’s contributions are closely linked to ASEAN’s significant developments, helping to strengthen the ASEAN Community of solidarity, self-reliance and openness.