Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and Chairman of its Commission for Information and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia (L) and Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation. (Photo: VNA) During the visit, the Vietnamese delegation had working sessions with Harald Troch, deputyhead of the Human Rights Committee of the Foreign Relations Committee of theAustrian Parliament; Maria Maltschnig, secretary in charge ofinternational relations of the Social Democratic Party of Austria; and Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO).
The delegation also visited the Research and Laboratory Centre of the International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA) and talked with the staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and representativesof Vietnamese intellectuals in the European country.
Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and Chairman of its Commission for Information and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia (C) at the meeting with Austrian officials. (Photo: VNA) He reaffirmed Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance,multilateralisation and diversification of international relations, and active and proactiveinternational integration. Vietnam wants to deepen Vietnam-Austria ties in particular and Vietnam - European Union (EU) relations in general,including consolidating the friendship and cooperation, and increasing meetings andexchanges with Austrian political parties, and party groups in the EuropeanParliament (EP), Nghia said.
In the process of scientific and technological development, Vietnam advocatespromoting research and effective application of the nuclear energy industry’sachievements for peaceful purposes and sustainable development, especially inthe fields of health, agriculture, industry and environmental protection, Nghiasaid.
In addition to its consistent stance on nuclear non-proliferation, Vietnam hasalways striven to be an active and responsible member of multilateralinternational institutions on atomic energy such as the IAEA, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and CTBTO, he said.
The Vietnamese official spoke highly of the role played by the CTBT in ensuring security and reducingthe risk of nuclear crisis; and the CTBTO's mission to promote the soon enforcementof the CTBT.
Leaders of the Austrian parliament, Social Democratic Party of Austria,CTBTO and IAEA highly evaluated the delegation's working visit, saying it was an important milestone that contributed to consolidating and deepening relations between Vietnam and Austria, including ties between the CPV and political parties of Austria and between Vietnam and the CTBTO and IAEA.
They highlighted the fruitful development of the Vietnam – Austria relationsacross fields, within the framework of the Vietnam - EU relationship andmultilateral mechanisms of which both countries are members.
The two sides agreed to enhance coordination in implementing the EU-VietnamFree Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and promoting the Austrian Parliament to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
They also discussed the possibility of theory-policy exchanges between the Communist Party ofVietnam and the Social Democratic Party of Austria.
The Austrian officials congratulated Vietnam on its election to the UN Human RightCouncil, expressing their belief that Vietnam will take on this position wellin the context of complicated developments in the world and the region.
According to the officials from the CTBTO and IAEA, there remains large room for the twosides to expand cooperation. The two sides discussed orientations and solutionsto enhance the effective application of atomic energy to promote socio-economicdevelopment, as well as Vietnam’s effective participation in internationalorganisations.
In his meeting with representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy and theVietnamese community in Austria, Nghia highly valued the efforts of the embassy in promotingthe Vietnam-Austria friendship and cooperation, and the relations betweenVietnam and UN organisations in Austria, especially the CTBTO and IAEA.
He also affirmed that the overseas Vietnamese intellectual community is anintegral part of the intellectual community in the home country, expressing his hope thatthey will continue to contribute to the homeland’s development and serve as abridge promoting connections between the two countries./.
VNA
