REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, has been conducting lessons on a traditional dance form at Vietnam Dance College since early June, to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the nations.

Indonesian Ambassador to Vietnam Mayerfas said during a press briefing here on Thursday that he had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the program with Vietnam Dance College to enhance interaction among the people of both countries.

Dance teachers from several universities in Indonesia, including from Bali, Central Sulawesi and West Java, agreed to teach at the college.

"A few universities have already signed U-to-U (university-to-university) agreements with Vietnam Dance College. So we merely facilitated the process to help them conduct the classes," Mayerfas explained.

Besides Vietnam Dance College, the ambassador also signed an MoU to establish an Indonesia Study Center at Ho Chi Minh University to allow Vietnamese students to learn or research about Indonesia.

In addition, Ho Chi Minh University offers a major on Indonesian Studies in its department of cultural sciences.

On Thursday evening, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi and her Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Binh Minh, will hold a Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) to discuss various areas of cooperation.

The eradication of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing will be one of their subjects of discussion.

In 2014, trade volume between Indonesia and Vietnam reached Rp2.85 billion, indicating a positive trend that will continue to improve.

In the tourism sector, as many as 40,000 Vietnamese tourists visited Indonesia last year, while 100 thousand Indonesians traveled to Vietnam.

"We set a target to double the number of Vietnamese tourists and expatriates in the country this year," Ambassador Mayerfas affirmed.

Since 2013, Indonesia and Vietnam decided to hold the JCBC every two years. It was first held in Hanoi.

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