During a meeting with French President FrancoisHollande, both leaders hailed the recent outcomes of their bilateralcooperation to implement the Vietnam-France Strategic Partnership.
Theyagreed to increase delegational exchanges and reach a consensus on howto create a new impetus for their partnership in a number of fields,such as economics, security-defence, infrastructure, aviation andenergy.
They compared notes on international and regional issuesof common concern, pledging to work together closely to organise the21st UN conference on climate change in Paris next year.
President Hollande supported the notion to maintain peace, stability anddevelopment in the Asian-Pacific region, including security, safety andfreedom of navigation, and the peaceful settlement of disputes inaccordance with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Lawof the Sea (UNCLOS).
The Vietnamese leader held a meeting withhis Italian counterpart, Matteo Renzi, who holds the EU Chairmanship andchaired the ASEM-10 Summit. The two sides agreed that Vietnam and Italyshould join forces to make economic cooperation a key pillar in theirstrategic partnership.
They discussed measures to encourage andenable their business communities to promote links with a view ofreaching 5 billion USD in bilateral trade by 2015.
They pledged to continue working closely at international and regional forums.
Regardingthe East Sea issue, the Italian PM affirmed his support for ensuringsecurity, safety and freedom of navigation, and settling disputes bypeaceful means based on international law and UNCLOS.
Italy alsoaffirmed its support for the enhancement of relations between Vietnamand the European Union, including the early ratification of thePartnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), as well as the EU’s promptrecognition of Vietnam’s full economic market status along with theconclusion of the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement.
In a meetingwith the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, PM Dung spoke highly ofSweden’s provision of official development assistance to Vietnam,especially in healthcare, climate change and gender equality.
Thetwo PMs stressed the need to increase the connections between theirrespective investors, especially in the fields of green technology,transport and healthcare.
Meeting the Irish counterpart, PMDung spoke highly of the effectiveness of ODA provided by Ireland inthe fields of healthcare, education and the settlement of theconsequences of unexploded ordnances.
The two sides agreed tofocus their cooperation on education, climate change and agriculture,people-to-people exchanges, and child adoption.
The Irish PMexpressed his country’s willingness to share its own experience andsupport Vietnam in taking part in UN peace-keeping missions.
On this occasion, the Vietnamese Prime Minister also met leaders of Finland, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, and Slovenia.
Duringthe meetings, PM Dung suggested ratifying the PCA early and concludingthe Vietnam-EU FTA as soon as possible, whilst also discussing measuresto boost bilateral cooperation.
He congratulated Kazakhstan on its official ASEM membership.
Healso met with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who affirmedthat the new Government continued to consider Vietnam a key partner inthe Asian-Pacific region.
On this occasion, a memorandum ofunderstanding was signed between Vietnam’s Ben Tre province and Tulceaprovince in Romania, which is supported by the EU and includes projectsthat are part of the framework of the ASEM Mekong-Danube cooperationplan. This is the first local cooperation project between Vietnam and anEU member state within the ASEM inter-regional framework.-VNA