French President concludes Vietnam visit

Hanoi (VNA) – French President Francois Hollande left Ho Chi Minh City on September 7 afternoon, concluding a successful State-level visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang.

During his stay from September 5-7, the French President held talks with President Tran Dai Quang, and met with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Dinh La Thang.

The President also talked to students at the Vietnam National University-Hanoi, took a tour of the Old Quarter in Hanoi, visited the Ho Chi Minh Heart Institute and had a meeting with the French business community in Vietnam.

During the talks and meetings, Vietnamese and French leaders shared the view that the bilateral relations are growing across the fields and reiterated the resolve to work for intensive development of the Vietnam-France strategic partnership in all aspects.

The two sides issued the Vietnam-France Joint Declaration and agreed to enhance the role of bilateral consultation and dialogue mechanisms. They affirmed that economic cooperation will continue to be a priority pillar in bilateral ties and pledged to create favourable environment for investment and long-term economic partnerships between the two sides.

The two sides reached a consensus on pushing for the early signing and ratification of the Vietnam-European Union free trade agreement.

The two sides expressed their wish to expand cooperation in maritime and aviation security and safety, while affirmed the intention to go ahead with the partnership and experience sharing in the fight against human trafficking, illegal migration, fake goods, hi-tech crime and money laundering.

The two sides agreed to focus development cooperation on climate change response, the environment, energy, training, urban infrastructure and sustainable agriculture in the time ahead. Priority projects will be accelerated, particularly the urban railway route No.3 in Hanoi.

The two sides pledged to continue promoting education-training ties and facilitating the operation of the Vietnam Culture Centre in France and the French Institute in Vietnam.

The two sides will continue to share viewpoints and coordinate in the framework of the United Nations, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), EU-ASEAN cooperation and Francophone establishments. They affirmed the significance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the region. They stressed the importance of settling disputes by peaceful means without using force or threatening to use force on the basis of principles of international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

On the occasion of the visit, President Tran Dai Quang and President Francois Hollande witnessed the signing and exchange of many cooperation documents and agreements between the two countries.-VNA