At the reception (Photo: nhandan.vn) London (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs BuiThanh Son hosted a reception in London on May 5 for Vice President Global SHE and Sustainability at AstraZenecaJuliette White and attended a ceremony to announce its investment worth 50 million USD to restore forests and landscapes in Vietnam.
After hearing a report on AstraZeneca’s underwayprogrammes in Vietnam, especially a project on planting 22.5 million trees worth50 million USD to restore forests and landscapes, Son spoke highly of AstraZeneca’scontributions to the development of Vietnam’s health care sector over the past25 years, which has shown that AstraZeneca is a trustworthy partner of Vietnam.
Vietnam highly values its cooperation withAstraZeneca, he said. Apart from its positive contributions to the globalCOVID-19 fight, AstraZeneca provided early and timely support incontrolling the pandemic in Vietnam. The first successful visit by its CEOPascal Soriot to Vietnam last May opened up new, potential, and long-termcooperation directions between the two sides, not only in pandemic preventionand control but also in new fields such as climate change response and greendevelopment.
The tree planting project is in line withVietnam's rapid and sustainable development policy and strong commitments onnet zero emissions by 2050 at the 26th United Nations Climate ChangeConference of Parties (COP26), he said.
He suggested AstraZeneca continue effectively implementing theMemorandum of Understanding on enhancing cooperation with the Vietnamese HealthMinistry, contributing to improving Vietnam's health care capacity andself-sufficiency in drugs, vaccines, and medical equipment; sharing experienceand technology in emission reduction and climate change response with Vietnam;and assisting the country in pandemic prevention and control.
TheVietnamese Foreign Ministry will continue actively supporting AstraZeneca in its projectsin Vietnam, contributing to strengthening cooperation between AstraZeneca andrelevant Vietnamese agencies, he said./.
