The Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership continues to develop in all fields.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam always considers France one of its priority partners on the basis of sincerity and trust, and always highly appreciates France's role and voice in the international arena.

Thủ tướng Phạm Minh Chính tiếp Đại sứ Pháp tại Việt Nam Nicolas Warnery. (Nguồn: TTXVN)

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery. (Source: VNA)

On the afternoon of July 6, at the Government headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received French Ambassador Nicolas Warnery before the end of his term in Vietnam.

Congratulating the Ambassador on his successful term in Vietnam, the Prime Minister highly appreciated the positive contributions of the Ambassador, as well as the French Embassy, in consolidating and strengthening the Vietnam-France strategic partnership.

Accordingly, the Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership has been constantly developing in all fields. France ranks second in the European Union in terms of investment in Vietnam with a total registered investment capital of about 3.57 billion USD; ranks fourth in terms of trade exchange; and ranks first in ODA aid to Vietnam with a total preferential loan of 3 billion Euros. Bilateral trade turnover reached 5.3 billion USD in 2022, an increase of 10% compared to 2021.

Through the Ambassador, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed his regards to President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to visit Vietnam.

The Prime Minister thanked France for its valuable support in the prevention and fight against Covid-19, including providing Vietnam with 5.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

The Prime Minister affirmed that in its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification, Vietnam always considers France as one of its priority partners on the basis of sincerity and trust, always highly appreciating the role and voice of France in the international arena and the cooperation between the two countries at multilateral forums. Vietnam actively supports France's initiatives and ideas to contribute to maintaining peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Recalling the good impressions during his visit to France in 2021, the Prime Minister said that the Vietnam-France relationship has had ups and downs but has made more breakthroughs in recent years and there is still great room to continue promoting cooperation.

To strengthen bilateral relations in the coming time, the Prime Minister suggested that both sides continue to promote contacts, exchanges, and visits by high-ranking leaders of the two countries. Both sides continue to fully and effectively implement the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to take advantage of the great opportunities of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). The Prime Minister suggested that France soon ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to optimize the potential for cooperation between the two countries in the investment field.

The Prime Minister hopes that the two sides will strengthen cooperation in new areas such as renewable energy, high technology, digital economy, green growth, circular economy, climate change response, greenhouse gas emission reduction, especially in the production of equipment for the renewable energy industry. The two sides will continue to promote cooperation in culture, education, human resource training, conservation, restoration and promotion of architectural heritage in Vietnam.

The head of the Vietnamese Government asked France to make efforts to support and urge the European Commission (EC) to soon remove the EC's yellow card warning on Vietnamese seafood products; and continue to pay attention and commit to ODA capital and preferential loans to support Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh thanked and hoped that the French government would continue to pay attention and create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in France to stabilize and develop their lives, carry out investment and business activities, contribute to the local economy, and serve as a bridge to promote friendly cooperation between the two countries.

The Prime Minister believes that in any position, the Ambassador will continue to have good feelings for the country and people of Vietnam, always be a close friend of Vietnam, and be a bridge to strongly promote the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between Vietnam and France.

Ambassador Nicolas Warnery affirmed that high-ranking French leaders want to continue promoting and deepening relations with Vietnam. The Ambassador assessed that Vietnam has an important role in ASEAN and in the implementation of France's Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Mr. Nicolas Warnery said that Vietnam has always been consistent in its foreign policy and the two sides have very high political trust. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to France in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic with many important results once again affirmed the importance of both sides to the bilateral relationship.

Agreeing with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's opinion, the Ambassador said he would report and discuss with French authorities to continue promoting cooperation with Vietnam in various fields, especially politics, trade - investment, education - training, science - technology, and preserving French architectural heritages in Hanoi such as Long Bien bridge...

Appreciating Vietnam's efforts and comprehensive solutions to achieve the goal of responding to climate change, most recently the promulgation of the VIII Power Plan, the Ambassador said that France will actively support Vietnam in this field, especially in the process of implementing the Political Declaration establishing the Partnership for a Just Energy Transition (JETP).

At the meeting, the two sides discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern, solutions to enhance cooperation in multilateral forums, and participate in solving global issues in the spirit of calling for solidarity, international cooperation and promoting multilateralism.

Ambassador Nicolas Warnery affirmed that France supports the stance of ASEAN and Vietnam on ensuring security, safety, freedom of aviation and navigation in the East Sea and resolving disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

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