Vietnam's Party leader meets French Prime Minister

Paris (VNA) - The Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong had a meeting in Paris on March 26 with the French Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, as part of his current official visit to the European country.

The head of the French government lauded Trong’s current visit, considering it an important milestone in promoting the strategic partnership links between the two countries.

Both sides shared delight at the quality and dynamism of Vietnam-France cooperation in various fields, from politics, diplomacy, economics, security and defense to culture, health, science, education, training, law and justice, and collaboration among localities.

They affirmed their desire to deepen the strategic partnership in the new period, agreeing to improve the exchange of information and contacts, especially high-level ones, to increase the effectiveness of dialogue and cooperation mechanisms in all areas, especially in the economy, and to strengthen coordination in regional and international forums.

They emphasised that economic cooperation always plays a very important role in bilateral relations, and agreed to strengthen economic, commercial and investment ties in order to match with ties in politics and culture.

PM Philippe expressed his satisfaction with the signing of contracts and economic collaboration documents during this visit, and stated that the French government will promote the implementation of inked projects and agreements.

The government will encourage and create favourable conditions for French provinces and companies to expand cooperation for mutual benefits with Vietnamese ones, he stressed. He wanted the Vietnamese government to facilitate French companies to invest in the Southeast Asian country.

For his part, Trong suggested that the two sides should make more efforts to promote the potential of economic cooperation and the effective implementation of projects.

He affirmed that Vietnam is willing to facilitate the participation of French companies in its industrialisation and modernisation, and ready to be a bridge for them to access the markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Host and guest expressed their desire to accelerate the signing and ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the European Union in 2018, thus creating a new impetus for economic, commercial and investment cooperation between Vietnam and France and the EU.

The Vietnamese Party leader asked the French government to increase support and cooperation in the field of training and create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community living in France.

On this occasion, Party General Secretary Trong invited PM Philippe to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time. The PM received the acceptance with pleasure.-VNA