Deputy PM: Vietnam- a pro-active OIF member
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has affirmed that Vietnam is a pro-active and responsible member of the International Francophone Organization (OIF).
The Vietnamese diplomat thanked and greatly valued coordination, cooperation and assistance given to Vietnam by OIF General Secretary Abdou Diouf as well as his organization over the past years in tripartite cooperation programmes within the Francophone community.
Minh praised Vietnam’s efforts to make greater contributions to the OIF’s operations and boost its cooperation with this organization.
He reiterated Vietnam’s external policy of actively integrating into the international community for the goal of promoting peace, cooperation, solidarity and friendship with other countries.
Consequently, Vietnam fully supports the OIF’s cooperation orientations in terms of culture and language diversity, peace, democracy, human rights, education, training, solidarity and development, Minh said.
Abdou Diouf, in return, said he is happy to revisit Vietnam for the second time which coincides with the celebration of the International Francophone Day and witness the country’s rapid and drastic changes over the past years.
The OIF General Secretary congratulated Vietnam on accomplishments in a variety of fields and applauded the country’s active participation in various activities run by the Francophone community.
It is worth noting that Vietnam successfully organized the seventh Summit of the French-speaking community in Hanoi in 1997, adopting a chapter and electing the first OIF General Secretary.
Diouf highlighted Vietnam’s significant contributions to promoting the OIF’s movements and activities, noting that the country is a focal point of regional French-speaking community activities as well as the OIF demonstrated by its engagement in meetings and exchanges.
The OIF is drafting a mid-term strategic cooperation framework with the participation of working groups led by Vietnamese representatives. This shows Vietnam’s active involvement and responsibility for the French-speaking community programmes, Diouf said.
He voiced his confidence that Vietnam will continue to take part in the Francophone’s activities in the future as a contribution to expanding the French-speaking community’s operations in the region and wider world.
After their talks, host and guest witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the OIF’s support for the Centre for French language research and cooperation in Asia-Pacific under the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.
