Ambassador Pham Sao Mai said this is Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh 's first official visit to China, and also the first official visit by a Vietnamese Prime Minister to China in the past seven years, continuing the regular exchanges and contacts between senior leaders of the two Parties and two countries in recent times.

In the context of complicated and unpredictable developments in international relations and a serious recession in the world economy due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, this visit is of great significance, an opportunity for senior leaders of the two countries to discuss in depth measures to comprehensively implement the results and common perceptions reached during the official visit to China by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (October 30 to November 1, 2022), making efforts to promote mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields, and well controlling disagreements, contributing to deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China. On the occasion of this visit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will attend the WEF Tianjin, organized by the WEF in coordination with the Chinese Government.

Regarding the economic and trade relations between the two countries, Ambassador Pham Sao Mai emphasized that China is Vietnam's largest trading partner, largest import market and second largest export market. Vietnam is China's largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The import and export structure of the two countries is constantly supplemented and improved, with mutual support and connection in regional and global production and supply chains.

In recent times, as a bridge for cooperation, the Vietnamese Embassy in China has regularly exchanged with Chinese functional units as well as coordinated with domestic agencies to promote trade facilitation, open markets for Vietnamese agricultural products, and support businesses in removing and handling goods problems at border gates and seaports.

In the coming period, to increase and further exploit the export potential to the Chinese market, Vietnam needs to implement the following specific measures: Continue to maintain export market share in localities adjacent to Vietnam such as Guangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong and promote exports to other potential areas such as the North China, East China, Central and Western regions of China; take advantage of market advantages such as convenient logistics systems, e-commerce, increase sea and rail transport, reduce pressure on exports by road; continue to improve the quality of goods exported to the Chinese market, especially meeting the standards and requirements of the Chinese market for specific groups of goods; increase the quality and quantity of popular programs updating information about the Chinese market; promote the implementation of trade promotion activities in China, support Vietnamese enterprises to participate in large and prestigious fairs in China.

Commenting on the theme of WEF Tianjin 2023, “Entrepreneurship: The driving force of the global economy” and the efforts to contribute to the development and post-Covid-19 recovery of the Vietnamese economy in recent times, Ambassador Pham Sao Mai said that the above theme has received the attention of countries, organizations and businesses. This is a topical topic in the context of the current profound changes in the world economy, affecting traditional business models and industries and the recovery process of economies.

With the development goals of the 13th National Congress, Vietnam has continuously deepened innovation and openness, and implemented international commitments. In particular, Vietnam has made many efforts to promote new growth drivers such as digital transformation and green growth in line with the spirit of the 2023 WEF Tianjin Conference.

Regarding the agenda of this year's WEF Tianjin and the expected contributions of the Vietnamese delegation to this agenda, Ambassador Pham Sao Mai said that the agenda of this year's WEF Tianjin Conference focuses on discussing new areas, in which the role of emerging economies with great potential is highlighted. With the theme "Entrepreneurship: The driving force of the global economy", the conference includes more than 100 sessions, focusing on 6 main contents including growth adjustment, energy and raw material transition, nature and climate protection, post-pandemic consumption, China in the global context and application of innovation.

Within the framework of the WEF Tianjin 2023 Conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will attend and deliver a speech, sharing Vietnam's vision at the Plenary Session "Coping with Headwinds: Restarting Growth in a Fragile Context" and the Leaders' Working Lunch on "Preventing a Lost Decade". On the occasion of attending the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and WEF leaders will co-chair the Vietnam - WEF National Strategy Dialogue, attend the Vietnam - China Business Forum and have meetings with leaders of countries and corporations attending the conference.

Attending the WEF Tianjin 2023 Conference with messages about new economic growth drivers is also an opportunity for Vietnam to share achievements, experiences, development orientations, and seek to strengthen cooperation between WEF, countries, international organizations, and global and regional corporations to help Vietnam achieve its socio-economic development goals and transform its growth model.  

Ambassador Pham Sao Mai expressed his hope that through this visit, the two sides can achieve specific and substantive results for bilateral relations. Firstly, the visit is an opportunity for senior leaders of the two countries to have in-depth strategic exchanges, contributing to enhancing political understanding and trust, consolidating and orienting the stable and healthy development of bilateral relations. Secondly, the visit will identify measures to comprehensively implement the common perceptions reached between senior leaders of the two countries, creating momentum for further promoting cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economics - trade, investment, culture, education, tourism, science and technology, etc., bringing many practical benefits to the people of the two countries. Third, through the visit, the leaders of the two countries will continue to exchange measures to effectively control disagreements, maintain a peaceful and stable environment at sea, enhance coordination and support each other at multilateral forums, actively contributing to deepening the bilateral cooperation, which is beneficial to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

VNA