The year 2014 was filled with busy and effective foreign relationactivities that contributed to maintaining a peaceful and stableenvironment for the country’s development, according to Deputy PrimeMinister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
Joining the weekly TV programme on VTV1 channel entitled “People ask,ministers answer” on January 4, the Deputy PM underlined a multitude ofchanges in the regional and world situation during the past year, whichhad great impacts on Vietnam’s security and development.
Insuch circumstances, the country was successful in further developing anddeepening the framework of relations it set up with important partnersin 2013 in an effective and practical manner, he said.
At thesame time, the country has maintained territorial sovereignty in theEast Sea and won over the world sympathy and support for itsrighteous stand while exerting every effort to bring ties with Chinaback to stability and cooperation, the Deputy PM said.
He went on to say that economic diplomacy contributed greatly toefforts to overcome the consequences of economic instability and boostgrowth through promoting market expansion and attraction of investmentand official development assistance (ODA).
He noted that theEU increased ODA commitment for Vietnam to 400 million EUR for the2014-2020 period and the Republic of Korea (RoK) also signed a 12billion USD memorandum of understanding on infrastructure development inVietnam .
Meanwhile, Japan upgraded the relationship withVietnam to an intensive strategic partnership and pledged 120 billionJPY (1.3 billion USD) in ODA loans for five infrastructure and energyprojects in the country.
The Deputy PM added thatVietnam basically concluded Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiationswith the RoK and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Asked about the diplomatic sector’s response to recentcomplicated developments in the East Sea, the Deputy PM and FM statedthat protecting independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity andmaintaining stable and peaceful relations for development are tworeciprocal goals.
“The key to achieve both objectives is to abideby international law, which also means to uphold the principle ofsolving all disputes and differences peacefully,” he noted.
Therefore,over the past year, even in the most tense moments, Vietnamconsistently pursued dialogue and the peaceful settlement of territorialsovereignty issue in the East Sea in line with international law,the Deputy PM said.
He added that at the same time, the countrymaintained normal relations in all fields with China, includingvisits at all levels, ties between the two sides’ ministries, agenciesand localities, people-to-people exchange, and economic-tradecooperation activities.
Deputy PM Pham Binh Minhsaid this year, Vietnam will continue to join ASEAN and theinternational community in increasing mutual understanding and trustconcerning the East Sea issue as well as accelerating the serious andfull implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in theEast Sea (DOC) and pushing for result-oriented negotiations for a Codeof Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
“We applaud all initiatives andproposals for the common goal of maintaining stability, freedom,security and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, turningit into the waters of peace, friendship and cooperation,” he said,adding that the country will continue making active contributions to theformation and implementation of those initiatives.
Discussing problems relating to Vietnamese guest workers in SaudiArabia in the past year, the Deputy PM stressed that the Party andState always pay special attention to protecting Vietnamese workersabroad.
According to the Deputy PM, right after receiving reportsthat some Vietnamese workers, particularly women domestic helpers, werefacing difficulties in Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Ministry hadinstructed the Vietnamese Embassy in the country to take prompt measuresto protect the workers and send those who want to repatriate home.
The safety of overseas Vietnamese in world’s hot spots such asLibya and Ukraine was also a priority task of the Foreign Ministrylast year, Deputy PM Minh said, adding that the Vietnamese Embassy inUkraine had evacuated Vietnamese citizens from dangerous areas andgiven them support to resume a normal life. Among 10,000 Vietnameseliving in Ukraine , around 300 resided in the conflict zone in theeastern region.-VNA
Joining the weekly TV programme on VTV1 channel entitled “People ask,ministers answer” on January 4, the Deputy PM underlined a multitude ofchanges in the regional and world situation during the past year, whichhad great impacts on Vietnam’s security and development.
Insuch circumstances, the country was successful in further developing anddeepening the framework of relations it set up with important partnersin 2013 in an effective and practical manner, he said.
At thesame time, the country has maintained territorial sovereignty in theEast Sea and won over the world sympathy and support for itsrighteous stand while exerting every effort to bring ties with Chinaback to stability and cooperation, the Deputy PM said.
He went on to say that economic diplomacy contributed greatly toefforts to overcome the consequences of economic instability and boostgrowth through promoting market expansion and attraction of investmentand official development assistance (ODA).
He noted that theEU increased ODA commitment for Vietnam to 400 million EUR for the2014-2020 period and the Republic of Korea (RoK) also signed a 12billion USD memorandum of understanding on infrastructure development inVietnam .
Meanwhile, Japan upgraded the relationship withVietnam to an intensive strategic partnership and pledged 120 billionJPY (1.3 billion USD) in ODA loans for five infrastructure and energyprojects in the country.
The Deputy PM added thatVietnam basically concluded Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiationswith the RoK and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Asked about the diplomatic sector’s response to recentcomplicated developments in the East Sea, the Deputy PM and FM statedthat protecting independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity andmaintaining stable and peaceful relations for development are tworeciprocal goals.
“The key to achieve both objectives is to abideby international law, which also means to uphold the principle ofsolving all disputes and differences peacefully,” he noted.
Therefore,over the past year, even in the most tense moments, Vietnamconsistently pursued dialogue and the peaceful settlement of territorialsovereignty issue in the East Sea in line with international law,the Deputy PM said.
He added that at the same time, the countrymaintained normal relations in all fields with China, includingvisits at all levels, ties between the two sides’ ministries, agenciesand localities, people-to-people exchange, and economic-tradecooperation activities.
Deputy PM Pham Binh Minhsaid this year, Vietnam will continue to join ASEAN and theinternational community in increasing mutual understanding and trustconcerning the East Sea issue as well as accelerating the serious andfull implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in theEast Sea (DOC) and pushing for result-oriented negotiations for a Codeof Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
“We applaud all initiatives andproposals for the common goal of maintaining stability, freedom,security and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, turningit into the waters of peace, friendship and cooperation,” he said,adding that the country will continue making active contributions to theformation and implementation of those initiatives.
Discussing problems relating to Vietnamese guest workers in SaudiArabia in the past year, the Deputy PM stressed that the Party andState always pay special attention to protecting Vietnamese workersabroad.
According to the Deputy PM, right after receiving reportsthat some Vietnamese workers, particularly women domestic helpers, werefacing difficulties in Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Ministry hadinstructed the Vietnamese Embassy in the country to take prompt measuresto protect the workers and send those who want to repatriate home.
The safety of overseas Vietnamese in world’s hot spots such asLibya and Ukraine was also a priority task of the Foreign Ministrylast year, Deputy PM Minh said, adding that the Vietnamese Embassy inUkraine had evacuated Vietnamese citizens from dangerous areas andgiven them support to resume a normal life. Among 10,000 Vietnameseliving in Ukraine , around 300 resided in the conflict zone in theeastern region.-VNA
