PM Pham Minh Chinh (third from left) and French President Emmanuel Macron (third from right) meet on the sidelines of COP28 in the UAE on December 2. (Photo: VNA) In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, the diplomat said the diverse activities held this year to mark major anniversaries of bilateral relations, including 50 years since the signing of the Paris Peace Accords, the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship, and the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership, have demonstrated the maturity and profound development of their relations.
Notably, the phone talks between Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and French President Emmanuel Macron on October 20, as well as the meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and President Macron on the sidelines of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) on December 2 once again affirmed the close high-level opinion exchanges, common perceptions, and shared vision about orientations for the enhancement of bilateral relations.
The two sides have also held ministerial-level visits in many key cooperation areas, along with trips to France by over 50 delegations of Vietnamese ministries, sectors, localities, businesses, and partners, Thang said.
The year marks the resumption of bilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Vietnam - France decentralised cooperation conference (in April), the political consultation between two departments for regional affairs of the countries’ foreign ministries (in December), and the defence strategy and cooperation dialogue (in December).
The Vietnamese community in France and the French people’s associations for solidarity, friendship, and cooperation with Vietnam have also implemented various activities across the European country.
Besides, he noted, the successful repatriation of the Nguyen Dynasty's golden imperial seal of “Hoang de chi bao” after over one year of negotiations and procedure settlement, with support from the Vietnamese community and French authorities, was also an important milestone.
Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang grants an interview to the Vietnam News Agency's resident correspondent. (Photo: VNA) The Vietnam - France relations have built up in terms of both quantity and quality, but there remains huge potential for the two countries to further intensify partnerships, especially as both are facing big requirements for national development and contributions to the international community’s common efforts for peace and cooperation, he went on.
Thang said activities held across regions and spheres this year have shown that the two sides have managed to form a highly diverse system of partners at all levels, from central to local authorities, from ministries and sectors to businesses, and from associations to cultural and educational institutions.
The positive results obtained recently have formed an encouragement, a stepping stone, and also an impetus for the two sides to bolster connectivity and cooperation effectiveness and to seek new orientations and projects meeting both sides’ requirements in the current period, he opined.
Vietnam and France are holding many opportunities to lift their cooperation to a new height in the coming years and decades. The numerous activities in multiple areas in 2023 have illustrated leaders’ determination, people’s support, partners’ activeness, and important bases for developing bilateral relations more intensively and fruitfully.
The flourishing cooperation between the two countries will meet interests of both Vietnam and France, helping them continue consolidating their strength and footholds in a changing world and in response to common challenges, according to the diplomat./.
VNA
