Authorised by President Tran Dai Quang, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh attended a State banquet celebrating Bruneian Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah’s 50 years of reign, held at the Istana Nurul Iman Palace in Bandar Seri Begawan on October 6^th.

Hassanal Bolkiah is the 29^th Sultan of Brunei, acceding to the throne on October 5^th, 1967.

The State banquet is of the highest importance among the activities to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Sultan Bolkiah’s reign, in addition to many religious rituals and art programmes which are being held at different venues across Brunei this month.

At the State banquet. (Photo: Borneo Bulletin)

The event was also attended by the Presidents of the Philippines and Indonesia; the Prime Ministers of Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore and Thailand; the Vice President of Laos; the State Counsellor of Myanmar; the Prince of the United Kingdom; and representatives from the Royal Families of Japan, Jordan, Omar and the United Arab Emirates.

Before participating in the State banquet, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh held a meeting with Bruneian Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. During the meeting, she conveyed the warm congratulations from President Tran Dai Quang and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the Sultan.

Thinh expressed her belief that Brunei, under the reign of Sultan Bolkiah, would continue to obtain significant achievements in developing Brunei into a wealthy and prosperous country.

The Vice President suggested both sides strengthen cooperation by maintaining the exchange of high-level delegations and promoting the efficiency of the existing cooperation deals and mechanisms, whilst expressing her pleasure at the Sultan’s participation in the APEC Summit which will be held in the central coastal city of Da Nang next month.

Brunei Sultan Bolkiah spoke highly of Vice President Thinh’s presence at the State banquet, thanking President Tran Dai Quang and PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc for their congratulatory messages.

Voicing his hopes for a bilateral meeting with President Tran Dai Quang during his upcoming trip to Vietnam for the 2017 APEC High-level Week, Sultan Bolkiah agreed that both sides should make good use of their existing advantages aiming to facilitate relations between the two countries as well as within the ASEAN framework.

Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh and Vietnamese Embassy staff. (Photo: Vietnamese Embassy in Brunei)

On the occasion, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh held meetings with the leaders of other countries, and visited the Vietnamese Embassy in Brunei./.

VNF/NDO