The Philippine and Vietnamese governments Sunday in Cebu vowed to play acting roles in the cooperation with China in the South China Sea.

At a meeting, Philippine Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo and Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien reiterated their countries' commitment to the ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and to seek their stronger bilateral ties.

Vietnam and the Philippines are at the forefront of cooperation and confidence building in the South China Sea, Romulo said after the meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart upon the 10th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat held here.

The Philippines and China signed an agreement for joint marine seismic undertaking in the South China Sea during Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's visit to China last September and Vietnam also joined it this March, which is viewed as a significant measure to strengthen ASEAN-China cooperation and pave the way for the future settlement of the South China Sea dispute.

Romulo said that they had discussed a host of another bilateral issues and areas of cooperation, particularly in the context of the 30th anniversary of Philippine-Vietnam relations and the forthcoming meeting of two countries joint commission on bilateral cooperation.

"We have had 30 years of fruitful relations and we look forward to even more productive and successful cooperative endeavors, particularly in the area of trade and investment," he said.

Foreign ministers from 10 ASEAN countries are expected to hold one-day close door meeting on Monday in the Philippine central city to discuss the modalities and mechanism for the East Asian Summit and the ASEAN Charter issues.