Berlin (VNA) – Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc attended and acted as a keynote speaker at a discussion session on restructuring the economic system for a sustainable future, and held bilateral meetings with foreign leaders on October 8 as part of his attendance at the first Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC) in Germany.
In his remarks, Phoc urged the international community to better leverage scientific and technological achievements; foster innovative mindset; and find new solutions, methods, and concrete actions in a global, inclusive, and people-centered direction, aimed at speeding up the transformation of national and global economies towards greener and more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development, in harmony with nature, ensuring fairness and leaving no one behind.
He underlined the importance of solidarity, and equal, mutually-beneficial partnerships to support each other in transformation, development, technology transfer, technical assistance, capacity building, and resource support.
Attention should be paid to effectively addressing debt issues in a sustainable manner, and promoting the restructuring and transformation of global governance towards greater efficiency, transparency, and fairness, to enhance resilience and support for national economies, facilitating developing countries' access to loans and aid for green investment projects, renewable energy, and environmentally-friendly industries, he said.
The Deputy PM also reaffirmed the Vietnamese Government's strong commitment to improve people's lives and promote national development in a greener and more sustainable direction.
Earlier, Phoc had a meeting with President of the Republic of Namibia Nangolo Mbumba, during which he affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to strengthening and developing the friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with the African country.
He called on Namibia to create favourable conditions for Vietnam's key export items, such as rice, farm produce, household goods, garments, and wood to enter the Namibian market; and Vietnamese Vietnamese businesses to invest in the African nation.
Phoc also proposed collaborating in Namibia's areas of strength such as minerals and precious metals; and exploring opportunities for bilateral or trilateral agricultural cooperation.
For his part, Mbumba said Namibia eyes to further expand the friendship and all-around cooperation with Vietnam.
He agreed on the need for the two countries to further boost economic and trade cooperation, and enhance high-level delegation exchanges and meetings between their ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses. He also emphasised the importance of closely coordinating and supporting each other at multilateral forums, particularly at the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Group of 77 (G77).
The two sides agreed to promote deeper cooperation between the two countries to make it commensurate with their substantial potential.
Phoc took this occasion to convey Party General Secretary and President To Lam's invitation to the President to visit Vietnam when the two countries will celebrate 35 years of establishing diplomatic relations in 2025.
Receiving Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia Al-Ibrahim, Phoc affirmed that Saudi Arabia is one of Vietnam's most important partners in the Middle East, suggesting the two sides enhance delegation exchanges at all levels.
He urged the Saudi Arabian official to encourage investment funds and businesses of the Middle Eastern country to increase their investments in Vietnam, as well as assisting Vietnam in developing the Halal industry, and lifting the ban on the import of Vietnam's aquatic products as soon as possible.
Al-Ibrahim affirmed that Vietnam is a top important partner of Saudi Arabia, not only in Asia but also in the world. He stated that he will do his utmost to further promote trade and investment cooperation between businesses of the two countries.
The two sides agreed to coordinate in building a cooperation roadmap, identifying specific investment projects and business opportunities between the two countries' enterprises, and fostering cooperation within global and regional multilateral mechanisms.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Vietnamese Deputy PM on October 8 held a working session with Mayor of Hamburg Peter Tschentscher, who stated that Hamburg stands ready to share its experience with Vietnam in marine economic development.
Tschentscher suggested the two sides take advantage of opportunities to connect maritime transport, develop logistics services, and promote development of renewable energy. The Mayor also hoped that Vietnam will appoint an honorary consul in Hamburg soon.
The same day later, the Vietnamese delegation visited and worked with leaders of European aircraft-manufacturing facility of Airbus in Germany, during which he valued effective cooperation projects between Airbus and Vietnam. He urged Airbus to continue strengthening cooperation with Vietnamese ministries, sectors, and businesses, while also exploring the possibility of investing in component and equipment manufacturing facilities in the Southeast Asian nation.
On September 9 and 10, Phoc will have meetings with representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, the German Association for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (BVMW), leaders of the Federal Ministry of Finance, the ASEAN Parliamentary Friendship Group, and the Federation of Vietnamese Associations in Germany./.
