Vietnam calls for Southern development collaboration

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha delivers a speech at the G77+ China Summit. (Photo: VNA)

Havana (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on September 15 called for the promotion of cooperation, multilateral relations and solidarity among nations of the South to cope with global challenges.

In his speech on the first day of the Group of 77 developing countries plus China Summit (G77 China), now underway in Havana, Ha expressed Vietnam’s gratitude to Cuba for promoting those ethical values during its 2023 presidency.

The leader stressed the significance of facing the challenges of the countries of the South through cooperation in science, technology and research, raising the capacity of human resources in these areas and placing young people at the centre of development.

To this end, public-private partnerships and partnerships between scientists from different sectors need to be created, he said, adding that Vietnam supports Cuba’s initiative to hold similar meetings every three years to share experiences and promote digital revolution, as well as to create mechanisms to guarantee the exchange of experiences and knowledge between countries.

In this regard, he congratulated Cuba´s responsible contributions and its efforts to ensure that the G77 China, home to two-thirds of the world’s population, undertakes actions that will increase solidarity in the shared purpose of eliminating poverty and narrowing technological gaps with developed nations.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha attends the discussion session after the opening remarks by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.(Photo: VNA)

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel emphasised strategic meanings of strengthening solidarity, international collaboration, particularly in areas of science, technology and innovation, in order to solve challenges of the globe.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres stressed the importance of the G77 Group and China while calling for equality for Southern countries. He also asked developed countries to quickly implement their commitments to strengthen preferential financial policies and provide climate finance to support developing countries in overcoming current development challenges.

Further discussions on measures to bolster science, technology and innovation collaboration among Southern countries will be carried out on September 16.

In the meetings with heads of foreign delegations including Laos, Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Venezuela, Yemen, and the UN Secretary General, Vietnam won praises as a successful model in the COVID-19 fight and for its impressive achievements in socio-economic recovery.

Vietnam and other member states of the bloc also discussed measures to intensify bilateral collaboration and multilateral mechanism.

Themed “Current Development Challenges: role of science, technology and innovation”, the summit focuses on exchanging solutions and promoting roles of G77 group and China in bolstering economic recovery and realising the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals./.