Economic cooperation is a priority pillar in the bilateral strategic partnership, which needs to be fostered to match good political ties between the two countries.The statement was affirmed at meetings between Vietnamese Deputy PM Dung and French officials during his working visit to France from October 26-28.
Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung and Minister of Environment François de Rugy. Photo: VGP
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At the meetings, the two sides emphasized the Vietnam-France strategic partnership has developed strongly over the past years, especially in 2018 when the two countries commemorated the 45th anniversary of the foreign relation establishment and five years of signing strategic partners.
Currently, France is the only European nation Vietnam has cooperative mechanisms in all fields, ranging from politics, security, defense to economy, science, culture and education, Deputy PM Dung said.
Dung and French officials affirmed their wish to improve the efficiency of existing mechanisms to intensify bilateral relations at all levels in the time ahead.
Dung affirmed that the two sides are working closely to prepare for the success of high-level visits between the two countries’ leaders.
The Vietnamese deputy PM and the French officials vowed to continue supporting the implementation of economic cooperation projects, and creating favorable conditions for the two countries’ enterprises to step up business connectivity in the fields of health, agriculture and aerospace.
Dung urged the French government to early complete necessary procedures to officially sign a free trade agreement (FTA) and an investment protection agreement (IPA) between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam in late 2018 and ratify them in early 2019, so as to realize huge benefits of the EU-Vietnam FTA.
The Deputy PM also worked with officials of the French Prime Minister Office to prepare for PM Édouard Philippe’s upcoming visit to Vietnam.
PM Edouard Philippe will pay an official visit to Vietnam on November 2-4 at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on October 25.
During Philippe's visit, leaders of both sides will discuss directions and measures to expand and materialize cooperation on politics, diplomacy, economy, development, science and technology, education, health, environment and other fields, said the ministry's Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang.
