Prime Minister’s tour of Europe highly successful: Foreign Minister

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visits to Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium, and attendance in the ASEAN - EU Commemorative Summit were highly successful, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son told the media.

In an interview granted to the press, Minister Son said the tour from December 9 to 15 took place amid flourishing relations between Vietnam and the three European countries. This was the first visit to Luxembourg by a high-ranking leader of Vietnam in 20 years and the first high-level delegation exchange with the Netherlands in three years.

During the visits of the Vietnamese PM, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium, which have set up comprehensive partnerships and strategic partnerships in climate change and sustainable agriculture with Vietnam, have shown the importance they attach to the stature and role of the Southeast Asian nation, along with their determination to comprehensively step up cooperation.

During the trip, PM Chinh met with most senior leaders of the three countries’ governments, parliaments, and royal families, who highly valued Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements and growing stature in the world.

They affirmed the wish to work with Vietnam in promoting cooperative ties in an increasingly substantive and effective manner, sustainably developing the economies after the pandemic, effectively dealing with international issues, and responding to global challenges, according to Son.

He noted that in each of the three European countries, PM Chinh chaired business forums and had meetings with leaders of regions and major enterprises. Up to 30 cooperation agreements were signed between ministries, sectors, research institutes, and businesses of Vietnam and the three nations.

Vietnam and the three European countries agreed to work closely and support each other at international forums and organisations such as the ASEAN - EU cooperation framework, the Asia - Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the United Nations, especially when Vietnam, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium are members of the UN Human Rights Council, so as to contribute to regional and global peace, security, cooperation, and sustainable development.

Regarding the East Sea issue, leaders of the three European countries affirmed their support for the maintenance of security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the region; the settlement of disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); and the negotiations on an equitable, substantive, and effective code of conduct (COC) in the East Sea between ASEAN and China, the official went on.

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium also pledged to assist Vietnam in terms of finance, technology, human resources training, and regulation perfection to boost the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, energy transition, and sustainable development.

Son said PM Chinh’s official visits to the three European countries reaped all-round successes and were important milestones in Vietnam’s relations with the countries.

With regard to the commemorative summit marking the 45th anniversary of ASEAN - EU relations, he noted it was the first time ASEAN leaders had met with all the leaders of EU member nations, which demonstrated that both sides highly treasure and are strongly committed to fostering their partnership. It was also a good opportunity for the two sides’ leaders to identify important orientations for developing ASEAN - EU ties more strongly in the time to come.

An outstanding outcome was that the summit issued a joint statement which emphasised that ASEAN and the EU attach importance to each other’s role and standing; pledge to further solidify their strategic partnership on the basis of international law and equitable and mutually beneficial cooperation; and will bolster cooperation in economy, trade, supply chain stabilisation, maritime security, connectivity, healthcare capacity building, digital transformation, natural disaster management, environmental protection, climate change response, energy transition, and green and sustainable development, according to Minister Son.

The two sides also agreed to enhance multilateral cooperation, share common values and interests, and promote international law, and resolve regional and global challenges.

They stressed the importance of the maintenance of peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea, as well as the settlement of disputes by peaceful means. They appealed for the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and building of an effective and substantive COC that matches international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, he noted.

At the summit, the Vietnamese delegation led by PM Chinh proactively and actively made important and responsible contributions to the event’s success, in terms of both summit preparations, discussions, and document drafting, the official added./.