Prime Minister attends COP28 and visits Türkiye: Important highlights

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, attended the World Climate Action Summit within the framework of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) and conducted a number of bilateral activities in the UAE, and paid an official visit to Turkey from November 29 to December 3.

This working trip of the head of the Vietnamese Government is of great significance on both bilateral and multilateral levels.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Source: VNA)

The first destination of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's five-day working trip is Turkey - a country that has just celebrated its 100th National Day (October 29, 1923 - October 29, 2023).

Historic visit

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Türkiye is of special significance as it takes place on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The presence of the head of the Vietnamese Government in the capital Ankara is also historic as this is the first visit by a Vietnamese Prime Minister to Turkey since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1978. Therefore, speaking at the meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assessed the visit as a new beginning, opening a new era in the relationship between the two countries. Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz affirmed that this is an important event of historical significance in promoting the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Turkey. Both leaders emphasized that Turkey attaches importance to developing multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam, a country with a particularly important position in Southeast Asia. Speaker of the National Assembly Numan Kurtulmus said that although Vietnam and Türkiye are geographically distant, they always cooperate actively and constructively and have great potential to strengthen cooperation in the fields of economics, trade, science and technology and defense industry. The head of the Vietnamese Government also had many emotions when he first set foot in this Eurasian intercontinental country. At meetings with leaders of the host country, the Prime Minister shared his impressions of Turkey with its rich history and culture, with many majestic natural landscapes, hospitable people, and known as the "crossroads of civilizations". The Prime Minister highly appreciated the great achievements that generations of Turkish leaders and people have achieved, making the host country a center of economics, finance, industry, science - technology and tourism in the Middle East and the world. “I believe that, with our determination, the Turkish Government and people will successfully implement important national strategies such as the “Turkish Century Vision” and the “Hydrogen Valley” project, soon making Turkey one of the top 10 countries in the world in all fields of politics , diplomacy, economy, technology, military and becoming the green hydrogen center of the region,” the Prime Minister said at a press conference after talks with Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz at a press conference. (Source: VNA)

Towards trade turnover of 5 billion USD

Because of the great significance of the visit, the discussions between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Turkish leaders covered a wide range of topics, and in particular, the two sides agreed on many specific measures to further promote the multifaceted cooperation between the two countries. In terms of politics and diplomacy, the two sides agreed to promote cooperation between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the ruling Justice and Development Party of Turkey (AKP) as well as between the Governments and Parliaments of the two countries. In terms of economy, the two sides agreed that the potential for cooperation is still very large and needs to be specifically exploited. 2017 marked a historic milestone in trade exchange, when two-way turnover reached 3.2 billion USD, making Vietnam Turkey's second largest partner in ASEAN, after Malaysia. In contrast, Turkey is one of Vietnam's leading trade partners in the Middle East and a gateway for Vietnam to export to the Middle East and Southern European markets. In 2019 and 2022, Türkiye announced the “New Asia Initiative” and the “Strategy for Strengthening Trade with Distant Countries” respectively, both of which mentioned ASEAN and Vietnam as potential partners. For Vietnam, the project to develop relations between Vietnam and the Middle East – Africa region always puts Türkiye in a position of great economic influence in the region. The determination to exploit the potential in economic cooperation between the two countries was emphasized when the host country’s President set a target of 5 billion USD in bilateral trade turnover in the coming period. The President affirmed that he will direct ministries and sectors to proactively implement the contents agreed upon during the Prime Minister's visit, including the early organization of the 8th Meeting of the Vietnam - Turkey Intergovernmental Committee and the 5th Political Consultation Meeting between the two Foreign Ministries in the first half of 2024. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked Türkiye to create conditions for Vietnam's key export products such as footwear, agricultural products, seafood, etc. to penetrate Turkey's supermarket chains and distribution systems, and welcomed Turkish corporations and enterprises to invest in areas such as hydrogen development, infrastructure, logistics, etc. The leaders also agreed to promote cooperation in developing the Halal industry, tourism, agriculture, education and training, and enhance people-to-people exchanges. After the talks, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the fields of agriculture and forestry between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and the Diplomatic Academy of Turkey, and a Letter of Intent on cooperation between Vietnam Airlines and Turkish Airlines.

Message of responsibility, initiative, positivity

The highlight of the working trip of the Vietnamese Government leader to the second destination - Dubai (UAE) - was to join more than 130 heads of state and Prime Ministers of countries to discuss and seek long-term solutions in responding to climate change at the COP28 Conference - the most important multilateral event on climate change this year. On a global scale, the serious impacts of climate change require countries to take urgent and strong actions to achieve the goal under the Paris Agreement of keeping the global temperature increase at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Responding to climate change requires a global, all-people approach, ensuring fairness, climate justice and based on the foundation of international solidarity and cooperation, in which developed countries play a leading role, creating momentum for climate action, while increasing support for developing countries. Therefore, attending the COP28 Conference this time, Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet said that Vietnam expects the Conference to achieve substantial progress, especially in four areas of top concern. Firstly, countries continue to take strong actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, carry out energy transition in a sustainable and equitable manner. Secondly, developed countries fulfill their commitments, especially in providing finance and supporting technology transfer to developing countries in this process (including fulfilling commitments with the goal of mobilizing 100 billion USD per year and increasing the commitment level for the period up to 2025 and 2030). Thirdly, pay due attention to climate change adaptation activities, and propose a clear and feasible Global Adaptation Target Framework. Fourth, put the Loss and Damage Fund into operation soon to have a new, larger financial source to support developing countries and those most severely affected by climate change. At the Conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is expected to announce a number of new initiatives and commitments of Vietnam to best respond to climate change with the international community in the coming time. Since Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh announced Vietnam's commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at COP26 (2021), the participation of the head of the Vietnamese Government at this COP Conference continues to be an opportunity for Vietnam to strongly demonstrate the message of responsibility, proactiveness, and positivity in participating in addressing the global challenge of climate change; helping the international community understand Vietnam's policies, determination, and efforts as well as difficulties and challenges in responding to climate change. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's working trip to the UAE takes place in the context of the two countries celebrating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1993-2023). Therefore, bilateral meetings with the UAE on the occasion of attending COP28 will also contribute to strengthening political trust and creating new momentum, a breakthrough for Vietnam's cooperation with this Gulf country in all fields. The working trip to two destinations of important significance both bilaterally and multilaterally by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will contribute to implementing Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification of foreign relations, demonstrating the image of the country and people of Vietnam as friendly, sincere, and a reliable partner of the international community. Since Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to the ASEAN - GCC Summit and bilateral activities in Saudi Arabia (October 2023), the second working trip to the Middle East by the head of the Vietnamese Government in just two months has spread the message of strong commitment and demonstrated Vietnam's clear interest in promoting multifaceted cooperation with the potential Middle East region. Baoquocte.vn source