Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang received Deputy Director General of the European External Action Service

On the afternoon of July 22, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters, Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang received Ms. Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Director General for Asia-Pacific, EU External Action Service (EEAS).

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang received Ms. Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Director General in charge of Asia- Pacific region, European External Action Service (EEAS).

At the meeting, Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang expressed her pleasure to meet Ms. Paola Pampaloni again and congratulated her on successfully co-chairing with Vietnam the 5th meeting of the Vietnam - EU Political Subcommittee.

The Deputy Minister emphasized that bilateral relations have been developing positively in all areas after 35 years of establishing diplomatic relations.

Notably, after 5 years of implementing the Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the EU is now one of Vietnam’s leading trade partners. The Deputy Minister believes that investment cooperation between the two sides will also have a breakthrough when the Vietnam – EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) is completed and put into effect.

Emphasizing that in the context of the current complicated developments in the world and the region, Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang suggested that the two sides further strengthen cooperation to promote a substantive, balanced and mutually beneficial relationship, not only in traditional areas such as politics - diplomacy, trade - investment, defense - security, but also prioritize cooperation in new areas such as science - technology, green transformation, digital transformation, renewable energy, high-quality human resource training, labor, vocational training, sustainable fisheries development, etc. The Deputy Minister welcomed European enterprises to invest in Vietnam's key projects on infrastructure, renewable energy, green transformation, digital transformation, environment, and said that many Vietnamese enterprises are interested in investing in many European countries.

The Deputy Minister affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to and wishes to further develop relations with the EU, a leading important partner of Vietnam in the fields of economics - trade, development cooperation, environment, digital transformation, green transformation and regional security.

Informing the Deputy Minister about the results of the recent Vietnam - EU Political Subcommittee meeting, Ms. Paola Pampaloni said that in a sincere and open atmosphere, the two sides reviewed the current status of Vietnam - EU relations, updated the situation in each side, and discussed specific directions to promote bilateral cooperation in the coming time in a substantive manner. Affirming that the EU is a reliable and stable partner, Ms. Paola Pampaloni agreed that the two sides need to further strengthen coordination, including close cooperation between the European External Action Service and the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to implement the key points in the coming time, which are to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially at high level, to upgrade Vietnam - EU relations to a new level, and promote the implementation of EVFTA.

Acknowledging Vietnam's efforts in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, Ms. Paola Pampaloni agreed to promote the European Commission (EC) to objectively evaluate and consider removing the IUU yellow card for Vietnam's seafood exports, while promoting the early completion of the EVIPA ratification process.

In addition, the two sides also discussed current challenges to global trade and regional and international issues of mutual concern. On this occasion, the Head of the EU Delegation announced that the 4th Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum is scheduled to take place in Brussels in late 2025 to continue promoting a number of cooperation projects within the framework of cooperation initiatives with the region.

Previously, on the morning of July 22, Ms. Paola Pampaloni led a delegation from the European External Action Service to attend and co-chair the 5th meeting of the Vietnam - EU Political Subcommittee with Mr. Bui Ha Nam, Director of the European Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thu-truong-le-thi-thu-hang-tiep-pho-tong-vu-truong-co-quan-doi-ngoai-chau-au-321924.html