Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (L) and French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna. Photo: VNA

Request the EC to soon remove the IUU yellow card

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son visited France from June 5-6 at the invitation of French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna. At the meeting on the morning of June 5, Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to relations with France, an important member of the EU, a strategic partner of Vietnam with historical and cultural connections.

Minister Colonna expressed her impression of Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements and appreciated the official visit to the French Republic by Minister Bui Thanh Son.

This is the first exchange of foreign ministers' delegations between the two countries in the past 10 years, taking place on the occasion of the two countries celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership. The two sides expressed their delight at the positive developments in the relations between the two countries, and wished that the two countries would work closely to strengthen the cooperation.

The two ministers agreed to continue facilitating visits and contacts at all levels in the coming time, especially between senior leaders. They also vowed to maintain cooperation mechanisms, including resuming the strategic security and defense dialogue at the deputy ministerial level between the two countries’ foreign and defense ministries, as well as conducting political consultations at the department head level between the two foreign ministries.

Trade-investment cooperation continues to be an important pillar in the relationship between the two countries. The two sides are pleased that the bilateral trade is recovering after the Covid-19 pandemic, reaching US$5.3 billion in 2022, an increase of 10% compared to 2021, and has much potential. They also agreed to continue effectively implementing the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Minister Bui Thanh Son proposed the French Government to support and push forward the French parliament's early approval of the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and urge the European Commission (EC) to lift the yellow card warning against Vietnamese aquatic products.

The French Minister appreciated the economic cooperation projects between the two countries, especially the Nhon-Hanoi urban railway project, a symbol of Vietnam-France economic cooperation. The two sides also discussed promoting cooperation in the fields of climate change response, renewable energy, science-technology, education, and training.

The two ministers expressed their delight at the comprehensive development between the two countries in culture, education, and health.

They agreed to coordinate and implement activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and France in 2023.

The two ministers also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, affirming to continue to closely coordinate and support each other at multilateral organizations and forums, especially the United Nations.

French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna held talks with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on the morning of June 5 at the headquarters of the French Foreign Ministry in Paris. Photo: VNA

UNESCO continues to support Vietnam in various fields

Within the framework of his official visit to France, on June 5, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son visited the Headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The Minister met and worked with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay.

At the meeting, Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed the important role of UNESCO in maintaining and consolidating peace, sustainable development, and prosperity of countries and peoples around the world for nearly 80 years.

He expressed his pleasure at the comprehensive, substantive, and effective development of Vietnam-UNESCO relations, including the important and practical contributions of Director-General Audrey Azoulay.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son (R) meets UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay in Paris on June 5. Photo: VNA

Minister Bui Thanh Son emphasized that Vietnam will continue to participate in and fulfill its international commitments to make substantive and effective contributions to the common work of UNESCO.

In this spirit, Vietnam will run for a seat at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for the 2023-2027 tenure to work with other countries in completing policies and promoting measures to protect the world's cultural and natural heritage, he said, expressing hope to receive support from UNESCO.

The Minister also proposed that the Director-General and UNESCO continue to support Vietnam effectively in the process of integration and development by devoting more resources to implementing the MOU between Vietnam and UNESCO in the period 2021-2025.

Vietnam hopes to receive policy advice, experiences and practical lessons to restore socio-economic development. He suggested that UNESCO considers the strengthening of cooperation with Vietnam in education, sustainable development, climate change response, basic science, sustainable management of water resources and marine scientific research.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay agreed with Minister Bui Thanh Son's direction of cooperation in the coming time, affirming that UNESCO will continue to support Vietnam in the fields of education, culture, science and information-communications.

UNESCO also supports the conservation and promotion of heritage values and sustainable development of biosphere reserves in Vietnam.

She pledged to support Vietnam in building dossiers of new heritages as well as preserving UNESCO-recognized heritages, including the Thang Long Imperial Citadel.

On this occasion, Minister Bui Thanh Son invited UNESCO leaders to join the international conference on preserving and promoting the values of UNESCO titles for sustainable development in Vietnam, held in Ninh Binh in July, 2023. Azoulay said that she will send one of her assistants to the conference.

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