THE Philippines and Vietnam on Wednesday agreed to increase trade to $3 billion by 2016, backed by a newly signed bilateral action plan to develop cooperation in 13 key areas.

During his discussions with President Aquino in Malacañang, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang also agreed to support the Philippine proposal to create a Zone of Peace Freedom Friendship and Cooperation and a rules-based settlement of the territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

“We are pleased to see that bilateral trade turnover is increasing year on year and has surpassed the set target of $2 billion set by the fourth meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, and agreed to strive to bring bilateral trade turnover to $3 billion or more in 2016,” Sang said in a statement he read after bilateral talks with Mr. Aquino.

Mr. Aquino particularly cited one of four agreements signed by the two governments on the occasion of Sang’s state visit—the Philippine-Vietnam Action Plan 2011-2016 that spans his term and which he described as not simply a wish list but a framework that enhances multifaceted relations in 13 areas of cooperation.

The areas of cooperation are political, defense and security, economic, maritime and ocean issues, agriculture, energy, fisheries and forestry, environment and climate change, social welfare and development, health, education and culture, and international and regional issues.

Sang said the two governments also agreed to “expand our cooperation in other potential areas like tourism, energy, petroleum and mining.”

They also signed a tourism plan between the Philippine Department of Tourism and the Vietnamese Department of Tourism.

A memorandum of understanding between the Philippine and the Vietnamese navies seeks to enhance mutual cooperation and information sharing, and will provide a framework for strengthening bilateral cooperation involving search- and-rescue operations, natural-calamity warning procedures, and other maritime security issues.

The Coast Guard and the Vietnamese Marine Police signed a hotline- communication mechanism to provide the exchange of information on the protection and preservation of marine resources and the prevention of marine crimes, such as smuggling, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and piracy.

Sang also said Vietnam supported the Philippines’s proposal for a “Zone of Peace.” Although the two leaders were apparently referring to the Spratlys dispute, there was no mention of it in the official statements.

“Vietnam will support and work closely with the Philippines as well as Asean members to promote the Philippines proposal of the Zone of Peace Freedom Friendship and Cooperation to support the implementation of the Declaration of the Parties in the South China Sea, he said.

Sang said he reaffirmed to Mr. Aquino “the importance of the maintenance of peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation in the East Sea to the region as well as to the parties concerned.”

Mr. Aquino said they both agreed that a rules-based approach, adhering to international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, “is essential to the pursuit of a peaceful resolution of these issues through multilateral dialogue and consultations.”

They also cited the “importance of the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct [DOC] of Parties in the South China Sea signed in 2002 by Asean countries and China.”

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Vietnamese officials saw the Zone of Peace proposal “as a constructive initiative, very proactive, that would in fact complement and give substance to the implementing rules of the DOC.”

Del Rosario also said Mr. Aquino raised to Sang the issue of the recently signed agreement between China and Vietnam that sought to cool tensions between the two countries on their dispute in the South China Sea.

On Tuesday a state-run Chinese newspaper issued a warning that China’s neighbors should prepare “for the sounds of cannons” if they don’t temper their positions in territorial disputes over the South China Sea.

“I think it was explained with great clarity that the points of agreement were not unacceptable to us…. We didn’t feel that there was any particular element in that agreement that we have objected to,” del Rosario  said.

When asked to elaborate, del Rosario said the agreement between China and Vietnam “essentially…said that there would be a bilateral approach to one or two areas that really concern China and Vietnam alone and the other areas which should be treated multilaterally will be approached in that manner.”

Del Rosario said Mr. Aquino also raised the Philippine government’s concerns over illegal Vietnamese fishermen caught poaching in Philippine waters, and that the President “implied” that it cannot go on in the future.

“He said that we need to take a good look at this because this unregulated fishing is really subjected to a legal process that we need to inject in future incidents,” del Rosario said.

In response, del Rosario said the Vietnamese leader “acquiesced to the fact that we are governed by laws and maybe in the future this unregulated fishing will have to be reviewed by both of us.”

He said Mr. Aquino also informed Sang that the Philippines released 120 Vietnamese fishermen caught poaching in Philippine waters and as a “manifestation of goodwill also we expressed the willingness to release the seven fishing vessels.”

Mr. Aquino later feted Mr. Sang and his party to a state dinner in Malacañang.