Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh talks with Chairman of the Italian Senate's Foreign Policy Commission Pier Ferdinando Casini. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh had bilateral meetings with high-ranking diplomatic officials of Argentina and Italy in New York on September 24 on the sidelines of the United Nations Security Council’s meeting.
In the meeting with Argentinian Foreign Minister Susana Mabel Malcorra, the Deputy PM affirmed Vietnam attaches importance to boosting comprehensive cooperation with Argentina, its leading partner in the Latin American region.
The two sides expressed their pleasure with the positively developing relationship, especially the continuous growth of bilateral trade.
They agreed to boost exchanges of all-level delegations, continue negotiations for signing bilateral cooperation agreements to create a favourable legal framework for bilateral cooperation, especially in trade, investment, agriculture, customs, finance-bank, science-technology.
At the meeting between Minh and Chairman of the Italian Senate's Foreign Policy Commission Pier Ferdinando Casini and President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Fabrizio Cicchitto, the two sides expressed their delight at the strong development of the bilateral relationship since the two countries established their Strategic Partnership in 2013.
The Deputy PM congratulated Italy on becoming a member of the United Nations Security Council for the term of 2017-2018 and appreciated the Italian Chamber of Deputies’ ratification of the Vietnam-EU Comprehensive Cooperation and Partnership. He said the upcoming implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will create conditions for trade, economic, investment cooperation between the two countries.
The Italian leaders spoke highly of Vietnam’s dynamic development and expressed his belief that the country will continue to be an attractive destination for Italian investors.
On the East Sea issue, the top Italian legislators said they support the maintenance of peace, stability, freedom, security and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea and the settlement of disputes via peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ( UNCLOS ).
The same day, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh attended the Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, which discussed measures to implement plans for the ASEAN Community building, boost relations with partners and coordinate ASEAN’s viewpoint on issues at the UN, including considering ASEAN candidates for UN agencies and other international organisations.
The ASEAN Foreign Ministers held a special meeting for sustainable development, adopted a Joint Statement agreeing on promoting cooperation between ASEAN and the UN in effectively realising sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Speaking at the meetings, the Deputy PM stressed that ASEAN needs to put forth methods and measures to effectively implement the ASEAN Vision 2025 and specific plans for each pillar of the community and each field, improve the effectiveness of the supervision mechanism, and enhance the solidarity, unity and central role of ASEAN.
He also recommended increasing regional and international cooperation in realising SDGs and responding to trans-national challenges.
On the occasion, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers met with their counterparts of countries in the Pacific Association, comprising Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.-VNA
