Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh: Vietnam-France relations are like an 'upward graph'

That was the affirmation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher during a meeting in Paris, France on the afternoon of June 10.

Senate President Gerard Larcher welcomes Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh . (Photo: Minh Nhat)

The two leaders expressed their great pleasure at meeting again and recalled the good memories of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to France in 2021 as well as the visit to Vietnam by President of the Senate Gérard Larcher in 2022.

The Prime Minister sincerely thanked the President of the Senate for his warm feelings and the thoughtful and warm welcome that the French side extended to the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation. The Prime Minister respectfully conveyed the greetings of General Secretary To Lam, President Luong Cuong, and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Senate President Gérard Larcher. (Photo: Minh Nhat)

Congratulating France on continuously successfully organizing major events, including the Olympics, the 2024 Francophone Summit and recently the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3), the Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam's participation in the Conference and approval of the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) at the Conference is a support for the role of the host country France in promoting international cooperation and enhancing the management, conservation and sustainable use of seas and oceans.

At the meeting, President of the Senate Gérald Larcher expressed his pleasure to meet again with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, a dear friend of France and himself. The two leaders affirmed their delight at the positive development in bilateral relations, the good cooperation between the two legislative bodies, as well as the socio-economic development achievements of the two countries in recent times in the context of many fluctuations in the world situation.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the development of the bilateral relationship can be likened to an “upward graph”. The two sides agreed to promote defense-security relations, including peacekeeping, search and rescue, science-technology, energy, and transportation. The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in education and training, including exchanges between universities of the two countries, cultural cooperation, and the preservation of relics with French architectural imprints in Vietnam; and medical cooperation, especially vaccine production, not only supplying Vietnam but also the region, such as the recent agreement on vaccine technology transfer between Sanofi and VNVC Vaccine Company.

Senate President Gérald Larcher expressed his pleasure at meeting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh again. (Photo: Minh Nhat)

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Senate President Gérard Larcher agreed to promote the maintenance of high-level delegation exchanges and between specialized committees and friendship parliamentarians' groups of the two countries to share experiences and improve the operational efficiency of the two countries' parliamentary agencies.

The Prime Minister requested the French Senate to strengthen cooperation with the Vietnamese National Assembly in facilitating the ratification of cooperation agreements as well as enhancing coordination and mutual support at regional and international inter-parliamentary forums. He also requested the French side to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the development of the relationship between the two countries can be likened to an "upward graph". (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

The Head of Government also asked Senate President Gérard Larcher to personally pay attention to and promote France's early confirmation of the organization of the 13th Local Cooperation Conference, contributing to enhancing cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. This is also an effective mechanism to connect local and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries that needs to be maintained and strongly promoted, especially in the context of the two countries upgrading their relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Senate President Gérard Larcher also discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern, supported ASEAN's stance on the East Sea issue, and affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea on the basis of the rule of law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), peacefully resolving disputes on the basis of international law, and not using or threatening to use force.

On this occasion, the Prime Minister respectfully conveyed the invitation to visit Vietnam from National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man to Senate President Gérard Larcher.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thu-tuong-pham-minh-chinh-quan-he-viet-nam-phap-vi-nhu-do-thi-di-len-317289.html