Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met Norway’s Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide and Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland Ciaran Cannon on November 21 on the sidelines of the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

At a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland Ciaran Cannon

At their meeting, Minh and Soreide expressed their delight at positive development of the two countries’ relations, agreeing to boost cooperation in trade, investment, maritime economy, education and training.

Appreciating Norway’s important contributions to realising Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the global level, the Vietnamese diplomat asked Norway to continue supporting Vietnam in realising SDGs, especially in health, education, clean water and environmental sanitation.

The Norwegian minister affirmed Norway attaches importance to its cooperation with Vietnam, both bilaterally and multilaterally, and will intensify affiliations in ship building, navigation, renewable energy, oil and gas, and aquatic farming.

She thanked Vietnam for backing the establishment of the dialogue partnership between ASEAN and Norway, while pledging to speed up the completion of negotiations on a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA).

Meanwhile, Irish Minister of State Ciaran Cannon spoke highly of multi-faceted cooperation and effective coordination between the two countries at multilateral forums.

He said he hopes to consolidate and expand collaboration with Vietnam in economy, trade, education and training.

Minh, in turn, suggested the two foreign ministries coordinate closely in implementing the 2017-2020 cooperation strategy.

Thanking Ireland for its provision of 7.5 million EUR per year in official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam during 2017-2020, he asked Ireland to continue helping Vietnam reduce poverty, develop human resources and realise SGDs.-VNA