>>Prime Minister of Luxembourg begins official visit to Vietnam
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Luxembourg counterpart Xavier Bettel held talks in Hanoi on May 4, affirming both sides’ wish and determination to lift bilateral relations to a new development stage that is more substantive and effective.
PM Chinh stated Vietnam treasures the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Luxembourg and that his guest’s official visit from May 3 to 5 holds great significance, especially as the two countries are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties and this is the first by a Luxembourg Government leader in over 20 years.
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| PM Pham Minh Chinh held talks with PM Xavier Bettel in Hanoi on May 4__Photo: VNA |
PM Bettel expressed his delight at meeting with PM Chinh again five months after the Vietnamese leader paid an official visit to the European country in December 2022. He also highly valued Vietnam’s recent socio-economic achievements.
Both host and guest agreed on some measures for enhancing the political trust, friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, especially increasing all-level delegation exchanges, effectively implementing existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and considering the establishment of new ones matching the countries’ potential and demand.
PM Chinh applauded the strides in economic and trade links, noting that Luxembourg is now the third biggest European investor in Vietnam with capital totaling USD 2.6 billion.
He also welcomed leading enterprises of Luxembourg in the fields it is strong in like finance, banking, logistics, and energy transition who are accompanying Bettel in the visit and attending a business forum between the two countries on this occasion.
The two sides agreed to step up the building of logistics centers and the establishment of bonded warehouse systems in each country.
Meanwhile, PM Bettle agreed to fully and effectively carry out the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to bolster bilateral trade, push other EU countries’ ratification of the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), support stronger cooperation between the EU and Vietnam in sustainably developing the fisheries sector, and persuade the European Commission to soon remove the “yellow card” warning in terms of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his counterpart witness the signing of an agreement on the strategic partnership in green finance between the two finance ministries after their talks on May 4__Photo: VNA |
Both leaders welcomed the two finance ministries’ establishment of a strategic partnership in green finance, a new cooperation pillar, to help further enhance relations, especially in personnel training, capacity building, institutional building, technology transfer, and financial assistance for agriculture and climate change response, in order to achieve green growth and sustainable and inclusive development.
In terms of development cooperation, PM Chinh suggested Luxembourg continue providing official development assistance (ODA) in finance and banking for Vietnam.
The two leaders also concurred in reinforcing ties in other areas such as culture, science and technology, information and communications, people-to-people exchange, tourism, and climate change response. In particular, PM Bettel voiced support for increasing scholarships for Vietnamese students to learn in his country.
On this occasion, PM Chinh thanked and asked Luxembourg to continue creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to successfully integrate into its society and contribute to the European country’s development.
At the talks, the PMs also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern.
They affirmed that Vietnam and Luxembourg will maintain mutual support at multilateral forums and international organizations such as the cooperation framework between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU, the Asia - Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the United Nations, especially during the time both serve as members of the UN Human Rights Council, so as to contribute to regional and global peace, stability, cooperation, and development.
Regarding the East Sea issue, both sides reaffirmed the importance of guaranteeing peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea; not using or threatening to use force; and resolving disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They also voiced support for the early finalization of a code of conduct (COC) in the East Sea that is substantive, efficient, and in conformity with international law.
Following the talks, PMs Chinh and Bettel witnessed the signing of a protocol amending the two Governments’ agreement on double taxation avoidance and the prevention of income and asset tax evasion, along with an agreement on the strategic partnership in green finance between the two finance ministries.
They also had a meeting with the press to inform about the outcomes of their talks.
Later the same day, the two PMs toured Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, Vietnam's first university built nearly a millennium ago, and the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum.- (VNA/VLLF)
