Prime Minister receives UN Secretary-General

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a reception in Hanoi on October 22 for visiting United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

PM Chinh thanked the UN for standing side by side with Vietnam in every development stage. During the difficult period of COVID-19 in particular, the UN’s support helped Vietnam drive back the pandemic.

According to him, Vietnam promptly switched to safe and flexible adaptation to the pandemic for economy re-opening and socio-economic recovery and development, with positive results recorded so far.

As Vietnam still faces difficulties and challenges in fulfilling the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), responding to climate change, and ensuring energy and food security, he expressed hope to receive the UN’s further assistance toward three strategic breakthroughs, namely perfecting institutions, developing human resources, especially high-quality ones, and building a synchronous and modern infrastructure, both economically and socially, to achieve the goal of becoming an industrialised and high-income country by 2045.

At the reception (Photo: VNA)

Speaking highly of Vietnam's role and voice on the international arena, the UN Secretary-General committed his full support for main pillars of Vietnam's development policy.

He expressed his impression and admiration for Vietnam's steadfastness in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its post-pandemic economic achievements, especially safe and flexible adaptation to and effective control of the pandemic, maintenance of macroeconomic stability, socio-economic recovery and development.

The guest hailed Vietnam as one of the pioneering countries in the fight against social inequality and climate change response, as well as its achievements in ensuring human rights. 

The Vietnamese PM emphasised a need for a global, all-people and comprehensive approach in dealing with current common challenges facing the world.

He said he supports the central role of the UN as well as the Secretary-General’s initiatives and efforts, affirming that Vietnam is ready to do its best for the UN’s common works in all pillars.

At the meeting (Photo: VNA)

Guterres Guterres affirmed that the UN and he himself will continue to pay attention to and support Vietnam's development priorities and offers the nation policy advice on a green, sustainable and resilient post-pandemic recovery.

The UN Secretary-General wished the two sides to closely cooperate to ensure food and energy security, fight climate change, promote human rights, and develop digital technology, among others.

On the occasion, the host and guest shared concerns about the pandemic’s negative impacts, climate change, food and energy security, and inflation. They emphasised the need for countries worldwide to join hands in addressing such challenges.

The leaders also agreed to step up collaboration between ASEAN and the UN, highly value ASEAN’s role, and make efforts to maintain peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea, and peacefully settle disputes on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)./.