Foreign Affairs of the Week: General Secretary holds talks with Chairman of United Russia Party; deepening Vietnam-Slovenia relations

Reviewing some outstanding activities of Vietnam's foreign affairs during the week from May 22-28.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong welcomed Chairman of the United Russia Party and Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federal Security Council Dmitry Medvedev. (Source: VNA)

High-level diplomacy

On May 22, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong held talks with Chairman of the United Russia Party and Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federal Security Council Dmitry Medvedev on an official visit to Vietnam from May 21-23 under the Cooperation Agreement between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the United Russia Party.

In the discussion on Party building as a key task, the General Secretary emphasized that Party building and rectification have changed very positively, the work of preventing and combating corruption and negativity has been directed strongly, systematically, synchronously, resolutely and achieved many results; foreign affairs work has been actively deployed. The General Secretary spoke highly of the achievements that the Russian Federation has achieved under the leadership of President Putin and the United Russia Party.

Receiving Mr. Dmitry Medvedev, President Vo Van Thuong affirmed that Vietnam consistently implements a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification; always remembers the support and assistance that the people of the former Soviet Union gave Vietnam in the cause of national construction and defense; attaches importance to the Vietnam-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and wishes to continue developing with Russia the traditional friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the development interests of the two countries and for the prosperity of the two peoples.

On May 24,President Vo Van Thuong received the Ambassadors of Qatar, Brazil, Slovenia, Portugal, Estonia and Guinea to present their credentials to assume their duties in Vietnam.

On May 23, President Vo Van Thuong sent a message of condolences to President Sergio Mattarella upon hearing that heavy rains and floods in Italy had caused extensive damage to people and property; Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent a message of condolences to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

On May 22, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Dmitry Medvedev. The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the results achieved in bilateral cooperation in recent times, including the successful organization of the 24th Session of the Vietnam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee on Economic-Trade and Scientific-Technological Cooperation, thereby agreeing on directions and measures to further enhance the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation, especially in the fields of economy, trade and investment.

Receiving Mr. Karan Adani, General Director of Port and Special Economic Zone Company , under Adani Group - the largest economic group in India, which is researching, surveying and seeking investment opportunities in Vietnam on May 24, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that during the recent G7 Summit in Japan, the Prime Minister met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss many directions and measures to promote cooperation in this field between the two countries in the coming time, commensurate with the potential and stature of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

On May 26, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Samdech Kittisangahapundit Men Sam An , Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection of the Kingdom of Cambodia, President of the Cambodia - Vietnam Friendship Association, who is visiting and working in Vietnam.

On May 26, at the Government headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received a delegation of the US Senate led by Senator Mike Crapo who visited and worked in Vietnam. At the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to the Comprehensive Partnership with the United States, highly appreciating the fact that the two sides have maintained high-level contacts in recent times, especially the very successful phone call between General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and US President Joe Biden.

Receiving the US Congressional delegation on the same day, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized that Vietnam welcomes the US to strengthen cooperation with the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. Vietnam hopes that the US, through new strategies and initiatives, will continue to demonstrate its strong commitment to supporting ASEAN's central role, the ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and the Mekong-US Partnership.

On May 23, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue received Vice President of the Czech House of Representatives Jan Bartosek . The National Assembly Chairman emphasized that Vietnam always attaches importance to developing relations with traditional friends in the Central-Eastern European region, of which the Czech Republic is one of the very important partners. In recent times, the two countries have had very good political and diplomatic relations, with government agencies and the National Assembly continuously exchanging high-level delegations at all levels.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has just signed Decision No. 582/QD-TTg on personnel changes in the Government's Steering Committee for Administrative Reform . Accordingly, Mr. Ha Kim Ngoc, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, is a member of the Government's Steering Committee for Administrative Reform, replacing Mr. Pham Quang Hieu.

From May 24-26, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang attended the 28th Future of Asia Conference and worked in Japan at the invitation of Mr. Tsuyoshi Hasebe, Chairman and CEO of Nikkei Group. On May 25, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang delivered an important speech, presenting five important proposals at the Conference. On this occasion, the Deputy Prime Minister met with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, Chairman of the Komeito Party (ruling coalition) Yamaguchi Natsuo, President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives Hosoda Hiroyuki.

Receiving Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Shawn Perry Steil on May 23, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha hopes that Canada will continue to share lessons learned and support Vietnam in green and sustainable development and implementing net zero.

Activities of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

On May 27, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, a National Assembly delegate from Vinh Phuc province, participated in the discussion at group 5 on the Draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on People's Public Security; Draft Law on amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam.

At the invitation of Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs of Slovenia Tanja Fajon paid an official visit to Vietnam from May 22-23. At the meeting on May 23, Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with the Republic of Slovenia, a traditional friend and partner of Vietnam in Central Eastern Europe.

Bilateral diplomacy

On May 27, the Association of Vietnamese Intellectuals in Japan held a meeting with 100 outstanding Vietnamese intellectuals under the sponsorship of the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Planning and Investment. Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu welcomed and highly appreciated the enthusiasm of the intellectual community, especially the Association of Vietnamese Intellectuals in Japan, the Vietnamese Academic Network in Japan (VANJ)...

From May 22-25, Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Nguyen Quoc Dung visited and worked in Utah . During the visit, the Ambassador met and discussed with Senator Jerry Stevenson, Chairman of the Utah Senate Appropriations Committee; Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall; Mr. Franz Kolb - Head of the Economic Development Agency of the Utah Governor's Office, the business community at the Utah World Trade Center; spoke at the Utah People's Diplomacy Council and Brigham Young University (BYU), University of Utah, Westminster University; met with a number of overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese students, artists and friends and partners of Vietnam currently living and working in Utah...

Speaking at the 60th Anniversary of Africa Day organized by African Embassies in Vietnam on May 25, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc highly appreciated Africa's great development achievements in recent years, especially the adoption of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA); congratulated and shared the contributions of the AU and the people of African countries in addressing global challenges, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

A friendship concert featuring famous Argentine and Vietnamese artists took place at the Hanoi Opera House on May 25, on the occasion of the 213th anniversary of Argentina's National Day (May 25, 1810 - May 25, 2023). Deputy Minister Ha Kim Ngoc attended and spoke at the event.

On May 22, Deputy Minister Ha Kim Ngoc had a working session with Mr. Vangelis Vitalis, Deputy Minister in charge of Trade and Economics, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand, on the occasion of the Deputy Minister's visit to Vietnam to co-chair the meeting of the Vietnam-New Zealand Joint Economic and Trade Committee.

Multilateral diplomacy

On May 26, at the headquarters of the French Senate in Paris, the East Sea Conference was held, chaired and organized by the Institute for Applied Geopolitical Studies (EGA), attracting the participation of more than 120 delegates, senators, experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior, experts in international relations, military strategy, defense policy and postgraduate students. There were 14 speakers who were scholars, professors, lawyers, and journalists in France and Europe.

Within the framework of the Week for the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict 2023 (May 22-26), at the United Nations (UN) headquarters , a High-Level Open Debate of the Security Council took place with the theme “Ensuring the Security and Dignity of Civilians in Conflict: Addressing Food Shortages and Protecting Essential Services”. Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the UN, attended and spoke at the meeting.

The 29th annual ASEAN-China Senior Officials' Consultation (ACSOC) took place in Shenzhen, China on May 25. Ambassador Wu Hu, Acting Head of Vietnam's ASEAN SOM , attended the meeting together with ASEAN SOM Heads and Assistant Foreign Minister, China SOM Head Nong Dung.

On May 25, the UN Security Council held a discussion according to the "Arria formula" (informal) on the responsibilities and responses of countries to cyber attacks on critical infrastructure .

Speaking at the ceremony to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the International Day of UN Peacekeeping Forces (UNPFF), Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang affirmed that Vietnam's active participation in UNPFF activities since 2014 is an important policy and decision of the Party and State in the integration process, and at the same time reflects Vietnam's new position and strength in the international arena.

On May 24, within the framework of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Session on Development , a Dialogue Session between countries and Resident Coordinators and UN Country Offices (UNCT) took place to discuss lessons learned from countries in coordinating with UN agencies to implement the sustainable development goals. Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang attended as a keynote speaker.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Pham Quang Hieu shared with The Gioi & Viet Nam Newspaper about the message that Vietnam brought to the 28th Conference on the Future of Asia.

Citizen protection

Regarding the traffic accident in Jingxi City, Baise, Guangxi Province on May 19, on May 22, Chinese authorities announced that two more victims with Vietnamese documents died in the accident, bringing the total number of Vietnamese victims to 13, of which 11 died and 2 were injured. Immediately after receiving the above information, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly coordinated with domestic authorities to verify the identities of the victims, promptly notify the victims' families and relevant localities to promptly carry out necessary funeral procedures.

Other activities

On May 26, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to organize an international workshop on “ Strengthening international cooperation and sharing experiences on equitable energy transition ”. Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet highlighted Vietnam’s strong commitments at the COP26 Conference and the decision to join the Partnership for Equitable Energy Transition (JETP) with a number of G7 countries and other international partners to both serve domestic socio-economic development and join hands with the international community to respond to climate change.

On May 26, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc, Head of the Steering Committee for Cultural Diplomacy, chaired an annual meeting with the participation of 24 units in the Ministry, members of the Steering Committee, at Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Hanoi. The meeting aimed to review the results of implementing cultural diplomacy in the past time, summarize one year of implementing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' action plan to deploy the Cultural Diplomacy Strategy to 2030 and discuss specific and breakthrough initiatives and measures for cultural diplomacy in the coming time.

On May 24, Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang handed over the decision to receive, transfer and reappoint leaders at the Department level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Implementing the Prime Minister's direction at the Conference on removing difficulties for the wood and seafood industries on April 13, 2023, continuing to promote economic diplomacy in the spirit of Directive No. 15-CT/TW dated August 10, 2022 of the Secretariat, on the afternoon of May 22, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu chaired the May 2023 meeting between the Steering Committee for Economic Diplomacy and Vietnamese representative agencies abroad.

international