Deputy PM meets leader of French development agency

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha (R) meets with Deputy CEO of the AFD Marie Helene Loison in Paris on June 21 (Photo: VNA)

Paris (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha met with Deputy CEO of the French Development Agency (AFD) Marie Helene Loison in Paris on June 21, during his working trip to France to attend the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact.

Ha lauded the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron to organise the summit to seek new public and private financial sources, contributing to promoting finance serving development and the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

He expressed delight at the positive development in the Vietnam-France relations, especially in economy, one of the key pillars in the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha (middle) at the meeting (Photo: VNA)

The official spoke highly of the role that the AFD has played in effectively implementing development aid projects in Vietnam since 1994, especially in the fields of energy, climate change and urban transport.

Ha proposed that the AFD continue to support and promote cooperation with Vietnam in projects in emission reduction and climate change response, particularly in coastal areas and the Mekong Delta region.

For her part, Loison held that Ha's participation in the summit shows Vietnam’s strong commitments and responsibility in joining the international community’s climate change response efforts.

She showed her pleasure to discuss with him the cooperation between the AFD and Vietnam, especially on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-France diplomatic relations and 30 years of partnership between the AFD and Vietnam.

Deputy CEO of the AFD Marie Helene Loison (first, right) (Photo: VNA)

She affirmed that the agency will continue to conduct research programmes on climate change impacts on local socio-economic development (GEMMES), while supporting Vietnam in strengthening policy building and technology transfer, and providing financial assistance in green energy development, renewable energy, smart power transmission, and green fuel production.

The two sides agreed to further promote the cooperation in energy transition, especially in the context that Vietnam gave strong commitments at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and joined the Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETP).

They also concurred to continue to coordinate closely in implementing economic projects serving sustainable development in Vietnam./.

VNA