President's working trip to attend the 'Belt and Road' Forum was a great success

Photo caption — President Vo Van Thuong speaks at a high-level meeting themed “Digital Economy - New Driving Force for Growth”, October 18, 2023. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son answered the press's questions about the results of President Vo Van Thuong's working trip. The following is the content of the interview:

Could you please tell us the main results ofPresident Vo Van Thuong's working trip to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and the contributions of the Vietnamese delegation at this forum?

The working trip of President Vo Van Thuong and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was a great success, achieving the set goals and contributing to the effective implementation of the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress.

The forum was held after more than 4 years of interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 4,000 delegates from more than 140 countries and 30 international organizations. Notably, this forum was attended by more than 20 senior leaders from Asian, European, African and Latin American countries.

In the context of the world economy facing many difficulties, the forum is an important occasion for countries to discuss and seek new solutions and growth drivers. The discussion content this time highlighted the multilateral approach to economic, trade, connectivity, digital and green transformation issues, which are topics of interest and related to the interests of many countries.

The trip is the first multilateral foreign activity of President Vo Van Thuong in 2023. At this forum, the President delivered an important speech on Belt and Road cooperation, in which he outlined Vietnam's views and approaches on the topic of digital economy. The President's speech and the participation of our delegation were highly appreciated and agreed upon by the delegates. In addition, the members of the delegation also actively contributed to the specialized discussion sessions.

The working trip of President Vo Van Thuong and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation achieved a number of important and outstanding results as follows: Firstly, by participating in the forum's activities as well as sideline activities, we affirmed the consistent foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress, affirming that Vietnam is a friend, a reliable partner, and a responsible member of the international community, as well as a clear stance on Vietnam's support for multilateralism, with initiatives that are beneficial to peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Second, we have also shared experiences and discussed cooperation orientations with other countries on emerging and widely-concerned topics such as digital transformation, green development and economic connectivity, thereby contributing to building a multi-connected, open, inclusive and sustainable world and regional economy with people at the center.

Third, through the activities at the forum, our ministries and sectors also have the opportunity to further strengthen cooperation with partners from many countries. The results of this forum will support the implementation of the agreement on connecting the framework of "Two Corridors, One Belt" of Vietnam and the "Belt and Road" initiative of China.

In addition, during the two days of attending the forum, President Vo Van Thuong met and interacted with many heads of state, heads of governments, the Secretary General of the United Nations and a number of international organizations. During the exchange, the partners all expressed their respect for the role and position of Vietnam; wished to promote substantive cooperation with Vietnam, expand and deepen the content of economic and trade cooperation, science and technology, education and training, cultural and people-to-people exchange.

Could you please evaluate the results of the bilateral activities of President Vo Van Thuong during his trip to China this time?

During the working trip, President Vo Van Thuong and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation had meetings with General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping; Politburo Standing Committee member and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji; Politburo Standing Committee member, Secretary of the Secretariat, Director of the Central Office of the Communist Party of China Cai Qi; met with staff of Vietnamese representative agencies in China; visited a typical new rural construction model in Beijing and received leaders of several leading Chinese enterprises.

This is the first time that President Vo Van Thuong has held bilateral meetings with senior leaders of the Chinese Party and State in his capacity as the head of the Vietnamese State. The meetings of the President this time are a continuation of a series of high-level contacts between leaders of the two Parties and countries since the beginning of 2023, in the context of celebrating the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership framework. In particular, the visit has contributed to further concretizing the results of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's historic visit to China in October 2022, demonstrated in the following three aspects:

Firstly, maintaining the upward trend and adding new positive momentum to the stable and healthy development of the Vietnam-China bilateral relationship. President Vo Van Thuong, together with General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping and senior Chinese leaders, had in-depth discussions on major orientations, driving forces, and specific measures to enhance political trust, deepen and elevate the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new period.
During the meeting with the President of our country, General Secretary and President Xi Jinping expressed his gratitude and warm regards to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the leaders of the Party and State of Vietnam; emphasized that China always highly values the friendly relationship with Vietnam, considering it a priority in China's overall neighborly foreign policy; welcomed and supported Vietnam's strong development, successfully achieving the goal of industrialization and modernization of the country, so that the two countries can develop together. The leaders of both sides also agreed to make joint efforts to promote the relationship into a new stage of development with higher political trust, more substantive and deeper cooperation, a more solid foundation of public opinion, and better control of disagreements.

Second, increase common awareness of major directions and measures to promote substantive cooperation in all fields; agree to continue promoting economic, trade and investment cooperation towards further improving quality and efficiency; strengthen strategic connectivity between the “Two Corridors, One Belt” framework and the “Belt and Road”; give more priority to railway, road and border gate infrastructure connections, contributing to ensuring smooth production and supply chains between the two countries and the region. General Secretary and President Xi Jinping affirmed that China is ready to expand imports of goods, especially agricultural products and manufactured industrial products from Vietnam; encourage the expansion of high-quality investment in areas suitable to Vietnam's needs.

Third, continue to promote the traditional friendship and consolidate the foundation of public opinion favorable for the development of bilateral relations. The two sides' senior leaders agreed to increase exchanges and contacts through the channels of Party diplomacy, State diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy, between departments, ministries, branches and border localities of the two countries. The two sides emphasized the importance and agreed to promote the early organization of people-to-people exchange activities such as the Vietnam-China People's Forum, the Vietnam-China Youth Festival, and the Vietnam-China Friendship Meeting, thereby enhancing propaganda to all classes of people of the two countries, especially the younger generation, about the tradition of friendship between the two Parties and the two countries.

The two sides also agreed to continue to seriously implement the common perception of high-ranking leaders, comply with international law, effectively control and properly handle disagreements, contributing to maintaining peace and stability in the region.

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