Vietnam seeks broader cooperation with OECD
VOV.VN -Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son has proposed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) co-ordinate with the nation to realise their co-operation focuses at a meeting with Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the OECD, on the sidelines of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting 2024 (MCM) held from May 2 to May 3 in Paris.
FM Son called on the organisation to go ahead with its continued support for the implementation of the 15 projects within the Vietnam-OECD action plan for 2022 to 2026.
He therefore requested that both sides strive to enhance their partnership on the basis of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) they signed, while also suggesting the OECD facilitate the country’s ongoing intensive integration into its specialised bodies. This should be done alongside helping the country to understand and contribute more to the building of global governance policies, especially in finance, tax, economy, development, digital policies, investment, and science-technology.
The Minister presented Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s thank-you letter to the OECD, in which the leader appreciated the organisation’s invitation for the nation to attend the MCM, as well as its support for the country’s co-chairmanship of the OECD’s Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP) for the 2022 to 2025 period.
In response, Cormann greatly valued the country’s role, as well as its active and responsible contributions to the SEARP, saying that he is willing to work alongside the country to select the specialised bodies that can help it to seize global trends and standards in service of its making of suitable development policies.
As part of the occasion, Minister Son met with Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Manufacturing of Australia Tim Ayres, during which the Vietnamese official suggested the two sides soon complete the action programme in a bid to implement the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
This would create a firm foundation for them to deepen their collaboration across several spheres, particularly economics, trade, investment, agriculture, education-training, and labour, while also expanding co-operation in new areas such as the green economy, energy transition, and digital transformation, he said. The Assistant Minister went on to suggest that the Australian side continue its official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam in terms of climate change response and human resources development.
Assistant Minister Ayres highlighted co-ordination between the two countries as SEARP co-chairs for the 2022 to 2025 period, affirming Australian support for Vietnamese efforts in enhancing its relationship with the OECD.
He also voiced his support for the co-operation project between Vietnam, Australia, and Laos, expressing his wishes for stronger ties with the Vietnamese side in all fields.
On May 3, Minister Son held a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Minister Kamikawa Yoko, where he called on the Far East nation to increase its investment in the Vietnamese market in new realms like semiconductors, as well as helping the Southeast Asian nation to join its regional supply chain.
He also suggested the two countries bolster linkages in culture, people-to-people exchange, labour, and personnel training.
For her part, Minister Yoko said Japan backs the initiatives, orientations, and priorities proposed by the Vietnamese side to promote co-operation with the OECD, agreeing to forge ties between the two countries at multilateral forums like the OECD and the ASEAN.
Japan will therefore continue its assistance to Vietnam in industrialisation and modernisation in the new context, she pledged.
As part of his working trip, Minister Son visited the headquarters of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) in Paris, where he met with Louise Mushikiwabo, secretary general of the OIF.
The Minister said the nation always support the OIF’s efforts in promoting co-operation for peace and development worldwide, noting that the country will attend and actively contribute to the 19th Francophonie Summit slated for October in France.
Mushikiwabo emphasized that the OIF attaches importance to the Vietnamese role and position within the Francophone community, promising to help Vietnam enhance its economic, trade, investment, and tourism ties with French-speaking countries in a sustainable manner.
The OIF will therefore strive to beef up co-operation with the nation in terms of spreading the language and providing French language training for Vietnamese peacekeeping forces, she said, affirming the organisation’s readiness to admit Vietnamese officials to work at its Secretariat.
