Prime Minister visits France and attends the UN General Assembly
On September 23, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, left Hanoi for an official visit to the French Republic from September 24-26 and to attend the High-Level Debate of the 68th United Nations General Assembly in the United States from September 26-28.
The delegation included: Minister, Head of the Government Office Vu Duc Dam; Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh; Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang; Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang; Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Van Binh; Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen The Thao and Deputy Ministers of the Ministries of National Defense, Public Security, Planning and Investment, Finance; Culture, Sports and Tourism...
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. (Photo: VNA)
Bringing Vietnam-France relations to new heights
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Vietnam-France relationship has become increasingly in-depth, substantive and effective. Accordingly, the two sides have exchanged many high-level delegations and established many cooperation mechanisms such as: the National Security and Defense Strategy Dialogue, the Joint Committee on Defense Cooperation, the annual high-level economic dialogue, and the decentralized cooperation conference. The two sides also cooperate well at international and regional forums such as the United Nations, ASEM, ASEAN-EU, etc.
Economic cooperation is a bright spot in Vietnam-France relations. France is Vietnam’s third largest European trade partner (after Germany and the UK). Two-way trade in 2012 reached 3.2 billion USD, of which Vietnam’s exports to the French market are mainly footwear, textiles, household appliances, seafood, machinery, equipment and electronic components.
As of December 31, 2012, France ranked 2nd among European countries (after the Netherlands) and 15th among 92 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with 375 valid investment projects, total registered investment capital reaching over 3 billion USD.
Currently, France always holds the position as the leading European bilateral ODA donor for Vietnam. At the Consultative Group Conference of donors for Vietnam at the end of 2012, France committed to provide nearly 340 million USD to Vietnam in 2013.
Cooperation between Vietnam and France in the fields of education and training, health, science and technology, agriculture, law, security and defense... has also achieved very positive results. In addition, France always considers education and training as a priority goal in its cooperation activities in Vietnam, focusing mainly on teaching and developing French, training human resources at university and postgraduate levels in the fields of economic management, banking, finance, law, and new technology.
The official visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his wife to the Republic of France (from September 24-26, 2013), Vietnam's leading partner in Europe, a member of the G8 and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, aims to affirm the strategic importance of the Vietnam-France relationship, contributing to deepening and bringing the relationship between the two countries to a new height, and enhancing Vietnam's position in Europe.
Vietnam - An active and responsible member of the United Nations
The 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly is an occasion to review the mid-term implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and initiate the process of building the United Nations Development Agenda after 2015 and building the Sustainable Development Goals with the proposed theme: "Laying the foundation for building the post-2015 Development Agenda."
The Vietnamese delegation led by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended the High-Level Debate of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly to continue to extensively implement the international integration policy, enhance Vietnam's position, affirm Vietnam as an active and responsible member of the United Nations, and promote Vietnam-United Nations relations in general and with the United Nations' specialized agencies in particular.
In addition, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the High-Level Discussion Session are an opportunity to strengthen relations between Vietnam and other countries, deepen bilateral relations and gain international support for Vietnam's development and integration process.
At the High-Level Debate of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will deliver a speech sharing Vietnam's experience in implementing the Millennium Development Goals, highlighting the importance of building strategic trust to contribute to consolidating peace and resolving conflicts in the world; demonstrating Vietnam's readiness to actively and effectively contribute to the common work of the United Nations./.
According to VNA - LT
