Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung described his visit to Germany, the UK and Ireland an important step in developing a comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and Europe.
During the nine-day visit, starting from March 3, Vietnam and three European countries had exchanged and discussed specific measures to build bilateral relationship in many fields and strengthen coordination in international and regional issues, the Prime Minister said in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency.
Leaders of the three countries all expressed their wish to boost development cooperation with Vietnam and committed to maintain official development assistance for Vietnam in the years to come and support the country to implement its Millennium Development Goals to eradicate hunger, reduce poverty and enhance environmental protection.
During the visit, Vietnamese businesses signed with their partners agreements worth over USD 10 billion.
In the UK, among other contracts, two agreements were signed between PetroVietnam and the UK-based exploration and production company, Salamander, and oil and gas company Soco International, on cooperation in execution of projects in Laos, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Ireland, the two sides welcomed the signing of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding on Development Cooperation between the two governments. They also agreed to boost multifaceted cooperation to a new stage of development.
In Germany, the two sides approved a joint government declaration on judicial and legal cooperation and witnessed the signing of a government agreement on German involvement in a Ho Chi Minh City metro project and a memorandum of understanding on a cooperation project to train economic managers.
Leaders of the three countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in education and training, health, culture, science and technology, judicial reform, transportation, environment, energy, and telecommunications.-