France wants to deepen strategic partnership with Vietnam, says Macron

Macron thanked Vietnam for supplying COVID-19 medical masks, and announced that France will provide Vietnam with an additional 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine through the bilateral channel and 970,000 other doses through the COVAX mechanism.

Chinh thanked France for its medical support and hoped Vietnam will continue to get medical supplies and drug production technology for COVID-19 treatment from France.

The two leaders highly appreciated the effective cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, diplomacy, economy, security and defense, culture, health, science, education and training, law and justice, as well as cooperation between their localities.

Macron said France is ready to coordinate with Vietnam to prepare for the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference in Hanoi in 2022.

The two sides stressed the need to further strengthen bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation in the Vietnam-France strategic partnership. They agreed upon directions and measures to further facilitate trade exchange, and accelerate cooperation projects in key fields such as transportation, infrastructure, agriculture, environment, energy and aerospace.

Vietnam and France will seek to build long-term industrial partnerships on high technology transfer and mutual benefit, especially in areas where France has strengths and Vietnam has needs such as high technology, clean energy, organic agriculture, and digital technology.

The French President spoke highly of cultural exchanges between France and Vietnam, and proposed that the two countries continue to facilitate activities of the French Institute in Vietnam and the Vietnam Culture Centre in France.

Chinh welcomed Macron’s proposal, and asked France to increase healthcare cooperation with Vietnam. He hailed the French teaching programme in Vietnam, and hoped France would continue to support the exchange of students, increase scholarships and train more public administrative personnel for Vietnam.

The Vietnamese Government leader hailed appreciated France’s coordination with Vietnam at multilateral forums, particularly during the time when Vietnam serves as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. He asked France to work as a bridge to promote ties between Vietnam, as well as the ASEAN, and the EU, particularly when France assumes the Presidency of the EU in January 2022.

Macron said France is willing to promote cooperation with Vietnam in developing sustainable fisheries. He pledged to lobby the European Commission for an early removal of the yellow card against Vietnam’s aquatic products.

The French President said in its Indo-Pacific strategy France highly appreciated ASEAN’s centrality, as well as attaches importance to ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight.  He voiced his support for the settlement of disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, particularly concerning the East Sea issue.

PM Chinh hailed France’s role in the European Union and the international arena, and welcomed countries, including France, to bring into full play their role and responsibility to contribute to common peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

The two leaders agreed to issue a joint statement on the occasion of PM Chinh’s visit to France.

Chinh conveyed invitations to visit Vietnam from Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to President Macron, and the invitation was accepted with pleasure.

PM Pham Minh Chinh is paying an official visit to France from November 3-5 at the invitation of his French counterpart Jean Castex.