Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (Photo: VNA)As Vietnamis among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, the Party and State havealways prioritised climate change response during socio-economic development.
The PM’sparticipation in the COP26 is an occasion for the country to demonstrate itsresponsible, proactive, and active participation in settling global climate changechallenges, while helping the international community understand its policy,determination, and efforts, as well as the difficulties and challenges facingthe country in response to the phenomenon.
This isalso a rare chance amid the COVID-19 pandemic for leaders of countries to increasebilateral activities. Within the COP26 framework, PM Chinh is set to have meetings with leaders of somecountries, international organisations, and important partners.
The Government leader of Vietnam willalso pay a working visit to the UK.
The two countries set up a strategic partnership in 2010 andhave cooperated closely and effectively with each other when Vietnam served asa non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2008 - 2009 and 2020 -2021.
Vietnamranks 38th among the 241 trade partners of and 25th amongthe 233 countries exporting to the UK, which in turn is the third largest Europeantrade partner of the Southeast Asian nation.
The two sides officially signed the UK - Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement (UKVFTA), developed basing on the EU - Vietnam Free TradeAgreement (EVFTA), in London on December 29, 2020. This deal is hoped to createa comprehensive, long-term, and stable framework for bilateral economic andtrade ties.
They have also worked closely with each other invarious areas, including defence - security, human trafficking combat,democracy and human rights issues, development cooperation, education -training, and science - technology.
Regarding COVID-19 response, the British Government presented415,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam. The Vietnamese Ministry ofHealth and the Vietnam Vaccine JSC signed a contract with the AstraZeneca groupto purchase 30 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in November 2020. Nearly 15million vaccine doses under this contract had arrived in Vietnam as of September27.
On August21, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son sent letters to British Foreign andDevelopment Secretary Dominic Raab and HealthSecretary Sajid Javid, asking for the provision of as-many-as-possible continuouspositive airway pressure (CPAP) machines for Vietnam.
The UK is also expected to recognise the COVID-19 vaccinationcertificate of Vietnam in the time ahead./.
VNA
