Vietnam and France have signed a joint statement on upgrading their relations to a strategic partnership, opening a new chapter in cooperative relations between the two countries.

PM Nguyen Tan Dung (L) and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.

The official upgrade of Vietnam-France relationship was reached during the talks between Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault in Paris on September 25.

The two PMs consented to implement an action plan to realize the newly-signed joint statement on Vietnam-France strategic partnership with a focus on six strategic cooperation areas—politics-diplomacy, national security-defence, economics-trade-investment, development –cooperation, culture-education-training, scientific research, justice and the environment.

They underlined the need to continue create favourable conditions for entrepreneurs and investors to promote partner connectivity and increase their presence in each country.

The two government leaders agreed to strengthen delegation exchange through bilateral visits or meetings on the sidelines of international conferences in the time to come.

Host and guest said it is essential to step up cooperation at international forums within the UN, ASEM, ASEAN-EU frameworks as well as the Francophone community.

Dung suggested France give ODA priority to Vietnam’s urban technical infrastructure development, clean energy, vocational training, agricultural production, bio-diversity preservation and environmental protection projects.

French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault applauded Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements, its great efforts to overcome the economic crisis and the country’s increasing international status.

Regarding the East Sea issue, PM Dung greatly values France’s support for Vietnam’s consistent stance of solving disputes in the East Sea through peaceful measures on the basis of respect for international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, fully implementing the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and building a Code of the Conduct in the East Sea (COC) as early as possible.

After the talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation documents on healthcare, banking supervision, trade promotion, transport infrastructure development and oil and gas.

Meeting with the media on the same day, Dung and Jean-Marc Ayrault reiterated their strong resolve and political will to foster bilateral ties in the future in line with the two people’s expectation.

*** Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung reaffirmed Vietnam’s unswerving policy of attaching great importance to developing ties with France at a September 25 meeting with French President Francois Hollande in Paris.

PM Dung asked France to maintain its ODA provision for Vietnam’s projects on urban infrastructure development, clean energy, vocational training, agriculture, environmental protection and biodiversity preservation.

Vietnam wants France to grant more scholarships to its students, he added.

President Francois Hollande said the new strategic partnership represents a significant milestone in stronger bilateral cooperation in all fields.

He said France will continue pushing up Vietnam’s relations with the EU on the basis of their partnership and comprehensive cooperation agreement (PCA), while supporting the Southeast Asian country in its free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the EU.

Both sides stated that it is necessary to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, strategic dialogues as well as cooperation among localities.

 They also reiterated their commitment to bolstering cooperation in trade, investment, education and training, the environment and adaptation to climate change.

Prime Minister concludes France visit

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung left Paris on September 26, successfully concluding his official visit to France. He is now heading to the US for the 68th General Assembly of the United Nations.

While in France, PM Dung held talks with his host Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and signed with him a joint statement on the lifting of bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership. He also met with President Francois Hollande and Senate President Jean-Pierre Bel.

He also received French Communist Party National Secretary Pierre Laurent and had a dialogue with representatives of France’s leading economic groups.

On the occasion of the visit, the two sides signed a series of important cooperation documents and agreements in various fields.

During the talks and meetings, the sides defined priority strategic cooperation fields, including politics-diplomacy, security-national defence, economy-trade-investment, development cooperation, culture, education-training, and research on science and justice. They also agreed to join hands in building and implementing plans of action to realise the joint statement.

PM Dung affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching special importance to the relations with France as the strategic partnership is not a destination but a new starting point. He asked the French side to facilitate Vietnamese goods in entering the market there, and to prioritise financial assistance to projects on the development of urban technical infrastructure in Vietnam.

French leaders affirmed their support to the cooperation between the two countries, the Vietnam-EU relations. They said they would support Vietnam in the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations and cooperate with the country at international forums.

Regarding the East Sea issue, the French side shares and supports Vietnam’s consistent policy of settling the disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of respecting international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, strictly implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and advancing to an early formation of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

The visit was a fine success and a new landmark in the Vietnam-France relations, creating an important foundation for the intensive, extensive, comprehensive, stable and sustainable development of the bilateral relations in the time to come. At the same time, this is also an important contribution to the strengthening of the cooperation between Asia and Europe in general and between ASEAN and the EU in particular.

VOV/VNA