Foreign Minister receives AstraZeneca leader in London

At the reception (Photo: nhandan.vn)

London (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son hosted a reception in London on May 5 for Vice President Global SHE and Sustainability at AstraZeneca Juliette White and attended a ceremony to announce its investment worth 50 million USD to restore forests and landscapes in Vietnam.

After hearing a report on AstraZeneca’s underway programmes in Vietnam, especially a project on planting 22.5 million trees worth 50 million USD to restore forests and landscapes, Son spoke highly of AstraZeneca’s contributions to the development of Vietnam’s health care sector over the past 25 years, which has shown that AstraZeneca is a trustworthy partner of Vietnam.

Vietnam highly values its cooperation with AstraZeneca, he said. Apart from its positive contributions to the global COVID-19 fight, AstraZeneca provided early and timely support in controlling the pandemic in Vietnam. The first successful visit by its CEO Pascal Soriot to Vietnam last May opened up new, potential, and long-term cooperation directions between the two sides, not only in pandemic prevention and control but also in new fields such as climate change response and green development.

The tree planting project is in line with Vietnam's rapid and sustainable development policy and strong commitments on net zero emissions by 2050 at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), he said.

He suggested AstraZeneca continue effectively implementing the Memorandum of Understanding on enhancing cooperation with the Vietnamese Health Ministry, contributing to improving Vietnam's health care capacity and self-sufficiency in drugs, vaccines, and medical equipment; sharing experience and technology in emission reduction and climate change response with Vietnam; and assisting the country in pandemic prevention and control.

The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry will continue actively supporting AstraZeneca in its projects in Vietnam, contributing to strengthening cooperation between AstraZeneca and relevant Vietnamese agencies, he said./.