Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at a meeting with US Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the US Department of State Thomas Shannon (Photo: VNA) New York (VNA) – Officials of many countries and internationalorganisations have affirmed they consider Vietnam an important partner inSoutheast Asia and Asia-the Pacific during bilateral meetings with Vietnam’sDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in New York onSeptember 22.
On the sidelines of the ongoing 72nd session of theUN General Assembly in the US, Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh received US UnderSecretary for Political Affairs at the US Department of State Thomas Shannon,during which the two sides exchanged measures to realise the outcomes of PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to the US.
Minh hailed the US’s decision to open its market for Vietnamese star apples,stressing that the two nations needs to step up collaboration in the fields ofmutual interests at bilateral, regional, and global levels, for the sake oftheir peoples as well as for peace, stability and development in the region andaround the world.
Shannon suggested the two sides build on the positive developments in theVietnam-US relations in recent years to promote dialogue and mutual visits,especially the upcoming visit to Vietnam by President Donald Trump in November2017, and to enhance result-oriented cooperation in trade, investment,science-technology, security-defence, humanitarian activities, as well as in regionaland global matters.
Deputy PM Minh also had meetings with the Prime Minister of Macedonia,the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, foreign ministers ofAlbania, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, and Morocco, the Executive Chairman of theWorld Economic Forum and the Secretary General of the Permanent Court ofArbitration.
Minh called on the countries to increase the exchange of high-leveldelegation visits with Vietnam and beef up bilateral cooperation in economics,trade, investment, culture, science-technology, and education, in addition toproviding mutual support at multilateral forums.
He stressed that Vietnam is willing to serve as a bridge to link the countriesand partners in Southeast Asia.
Also on September 22, Deputy PM Minh co-chaired a meetingbetween foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)and the Pacific Alliance (PA).
Speaking on behalf of ASEAN foreign ministers, Minh said thegeographical distance could not stop the cooperative relations and friendshipbetween the two organisations.
He highlighted the available strengths of the two regions and suggested theyfocus cooperation on economics, trade, investment, education, people-to-peopleexchanges, science-technology, and sustainable development.
Colombia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs María Ángela Holguín, who co-chaired themeeting with Minh, said ASEAN and PA share a lot of similarities in their approachesto regional and international situation, especially in promoting economicintegration, free trade and equality as well as boosting the development ofbusinesses, particularly small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
At the end of the meeting, the foreign ministers adopted the ASEAN-PA Work Planfor 2017-2018.
The Vietnamese delegation also attended other sidelines events of the 72nd sessionof the UN General Assembly such as the informal foreign ministerial-levelmeeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures inAsia (CICA), a ministerial meeting of the Non-Alignment Movement, and a ministerialmeeting of G77 Group, among others.
Vietnam also joined the launching ceremony of the initiative “Partnering forGreen Growth” (P4G) inspired by Denmark to promote multinational cooperation inenergy and water, ecosystem, land, food, and sustainable urban development.Vietnam is a partner in the initiative.-VNA
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