Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (front, third, right), UN Resident Coordinator Kamal Malhotra (front, third, left) and other UN and Vietnamese officials at the meeting on October 21 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc received UN Resident Coordinator Kamal Malhotra and chiefrepresentatives of UN organisations in Vietnam on October 21.
Offering congratulations on the UN’s foundinganniversary (October 24), PM Phuc affirmed Vietnam always considers the UN asone of the priorities in its foreign policy and a leading important partner,noting that development and specialised organisations of the UN are “preciousfriends” who have greatly assisted the country since the post-war period fullof hardships.
Vietnam has managed to contain the COVID-19 pandemicearly and been making efforts to boost socio-economic development, he said,adding that this year, it may record a growth rate of 2-3 percent to become theonly nation to post positive economic growth in ASEAN and the fourth largesteconomy in the region.
For his part, Resident Coordinator Malhotraextended condolences to the Vietnamese Government and people on the heavylosses of life and property caused by floods and landslides in the centralregion.
He said the UN is sending its staff to joindamage assessment teams in affected localities so as to provide aid.
The UN official thanked Vietnam for its strongsupport for and valuable contributions to the UN and multilateralism,especially amid a number of challenges around the globe at present.
Appreciating the country’s contributions toclimate change response efforts, Malhotra said as ASEAN Chair 2020, Vietnam hasbeen playing an important leadership role, including in coping with COVID-19.
The official also congratulated Vietnam on itssuccessful control of the COVID-19 outbreak and noted that the UN is a closepartner of the country in responding to health issues, especially via the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO), the UN Resident Coordinator Office, and other UNagencies.
On this occasion, he presented PM Phuc with tworecent UN reports: the UN Secretary-General’s global COVID-19 situation reportand a report assessing the pandemic’s socio-economic impacts on Vietnam.
He also expressed his hope for the early signingof the new UN sustainable development cooperation framework for 2022-2026 withthe country.
PM Phuc congratulated the UN World Food Programmeon being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2020, adding that Vietnam attaches greatimportance to agriculture as well as food production and export, which are afirm support helping to stabilise people’s lives, particularly amid theCOVID-19 pandemic.
Seventy-five years since its establishment, theUN is facing the need to boost the reform of its development system so as tobuild a new generation of UN organisations at national, regional and globallevels, and Vietnam always supports and is ready to contribute to these effortsof the UN, he said.
The PM asked UN organisations to provide morepolicy consultancy to help with the Vietnamese Government’s socio-economicgovernance.
The Government of Vietnam will continuepromoting cooperation activities with the UN and create favourable conditionsfor UN development organisations in the country to effectively carry out jointprogrammes and projects, along with the reform of the UN development system,the leader affirmed./.
VNA
