Day: March 18, 2024

Hanoi: To promote cultural diplomacy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has proactively coordinated with international organisations, especially the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), said Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son. He made the remark while responding to a legislator's question about cultural diplomacy at a question-and-answer session on March 18 that was part of the 31st meeting of the NA Standing Committee. Son noted that cultural diplomacy has helped Vietnam not only introduce its land and people to the international community but also acquire cultural quintessence of the world via cultural exchanges. In that spirit, the MoFA has proactively coordinated with international organisations, especially UNESCO. Among the seven most mechanisms of UNESCO, Vietnam has been elected to five, including the World Heritage Committee, helping the country enhance cultural cooperation with international friends, he emphasised. At the national level, the mini ster said, cultural diplomacy has helped make an impression of Vietnam's friendliness. Recent external activities of senior leaders have also been highlighted with cultural diplomatic events. Localities nationwide have also paid attention to building and popularising their images through festivals, receiving high evaluation from international friends, he said. With regard to heritage preservation and promotion, Son said cultural heritage and the UNESCO-recognised projects are not only precious assets that clearly reflect the country's cultural identity but also hold global values. Therefore, promoting images of these heritages aims to bring into play the soft power, raise the country's stature in the international arena, and more importantly, contribute to socio-economic development. The MoFA will propose policies to practically and effectively strengthen Vietnam's cooperation with UNESCO and also ask UNESCO to give guidance, he noted. Talking about the MoFA's efforts, the minister elaborated that it has provided localities with information about things that need to be done to preserve and bring into play those heritages to serve sustainable socioeconomic development. It has also invited many leaders of UNESCO to visit Vietnam and worked with relevant parties to hold this organisation's first meeting on cultural heritage preservation and promotion. Besides, the MoFA has assisted localities to compile dossiers seeking UNESCO's recognition of more heritages, and continued to introduce the country's heritages to international friends as has been thus custom thus far, according to the minister./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Foreign affairs and diplomacy have played a pioneering role in mobilising external resources to serve the country's socio-economic development, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son told a question and answer session at the National Assembly Standing Committee's 31st sitting on March 18. The minister said the sector has coordinated with ministries to organise external activities on all continents, at various multilateral forums, through which the country can firmly consolidate favourable diplomatic relations for the cause of national construction and development. The Party and Government have also utilised foreign affairs and diplomacy in the process of policy transition to serve recovery and development, boosting economic cooperation with different partners, and signing agreements and commitments of long-term strategic significance. This has contributed to promoting economic growth, boosting exports, and attracting investment and many other important resources. Son noted that over the past thre e years, the sector has coordinated with ministries and sectors to successfully advocate for 16 more titles recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), raising the total number of Vietnamese heritage sites, places and famous people recognised by the organisation to 67. Efforts have been made to care for overseas Vietnamese communities, provide timely citizen protection, and repatriate thousands of citizens from places affected by conflicts and disasters, he stressed. Attention has been also paid to the Party building work and the prevention of corruption, he added./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Beijing: Le Hoai Trung, Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Chairman of the CPV Central Committee's Commission for External Relations, held talks with Liu Jianchao, Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chairman of the CPC Central Committee's International Liaison Department, in Jilin province on March 18. The talks formed part of the CPV delegation's visit to China at the invitation of the CPC Central Committee. The two sides informed each other about the situation of each Party and country while looking back on the important strides in the Vietnam - China relations since the historic visits by CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to China in late 2022 and by CPC General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping to Vietnam in late 2023. They discussed orientations for realising the common perceptions reached by the senior leaders, continuing to intensify and elevate the countries' comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, build ing the Vietnam - China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, and making efforts for the sake of the two peoples' happiness as well as peace and progress of the humankind. The officials agreed to maintain frequent high-level exchanges and meetings, further promote the effectiveness of Party-to-Party relations to set strategic orientations for the countries' ties, and step up exchanges and cooperation between the two Governments, parliaments, and fatherland front organisations. They agreed to strengthen ties in defence - security and between the two countries' localities, foster people-to-people interaction, and increase communications about the traditional friendship between the two Parties, countries, and peoples. As the two strategic advisory bodies in terms of external relations of the two Parties, the CPV Central Committee's Commission for External Relations and the CPC Central Committee's International Liaison Department will boost coordination to help promote their Partie s' strategic orientations for continuing to develop the Vietnam - China relations in a healthy, stable, and sustainable manner, they noted. Trung affirmed that in its foreign policy of independence and self-reliance, Vietnam views the development of relations with China as the top priority and a strategic choice. Noting China's consideration of Vietnam as a priority orientation in its neighbourhood foreign policy, Liu stated developing the cooperation and friendship with Vietnam is a strategic choice of his country, which supports Vietnam to maintain its strategic self-reliance and play a greater role in the region and the world. With regard to sea-related issues, Trung asked the two sides to consolidate the common perception on the importance of maintaining peace and stability at sea, coordinating to satisfactorily resolve sea-related issues in line with the high-level common perceptions, and settling differences by peaceful means and in conformity with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The two sides need to bring into play the negotiation mechanisms on sea-related issues, seriously and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and promote the building of a substantive and efficient code of conduct in the waters (COC) that matches international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, he added. During his stay in Jilin, Trung is set to meet with Jing Junhai, Secretary of the provincial CPC Committee and Chairman of the provincial People's Congress, to discuss ways to bolster economic, trade, investment, cultural, and tourism ties between Jilin and Vietnamese localities. He will also visit some local economic and cultural establishments./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held talks with his visiting Uzbek counterpart Bakhtiyor Saidov in Hanoi on March 18. Stressing that it is the first visit to Vietnam by an Uzbek foreign minister since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992, Son said this occasion serves as an opportunity for both sides to review and agree on directions and measures to strengthen the longstanding friendship and to promote practical bilateral cooperation in areas of their strengths. He took note of the impressive growth of bilateral trade between 2021 and now, averaging over 30% per year. In 2023, the figure reached 159.7 million USD, up 32% year on year. Vietnam always values its relations with traditional friends, including Uzbekistan, the minister affirmed, hoping that the two nations will continue to leverage their political foundation and good relations, creating new momentum for enhanced cooperation that aligns with their needs, desires, and strengths. Saidov, who is on an official visit to Vietnam from March 17-19, praised the results of Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, and 'bamboo' diplomacy, which have contributed to enhancing its position in the region and the world. Stating that Vietnam is among Uzbekistan's traditional and important partners in the region, he expressed his desire to deepen the bilateral collaboration towards effectiveness, especially in economy, trade, investment, agriculture, and education. Saidov expected that Vietnam would serve as a bridge to help Uzbekistan further strengthen its cooperation with the region, including the expansion of joint work between ASEAN and Central Asia. The ministers exchanged information on their respective country's socio-economic development, major foreign policy directions, while reviewing the bilateral cooperation and the implementation of agreements reached by high-level leaders in the past period. They agreed that the Vietnamese and Uzbek foreign ministries need to maintain their informati on exchange mechanism, enhance coordination, and play a coordinating role to connect the two countries' ministries and sectors to explore potential and seek new collaboration opportunities. On this occasion, Son thanked Uzbekistan for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese expat community in the country./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vientiane: The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security on March 18 handed over 50 vehicles to the Lao Ministry of Public Security to help it ensure safety for activities held during Laos's Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year. With the hand-over being part of the Vietnamese Government's assistance package to Laos in 2024, Deputy Minister of Public Security Sen. Lt. Gen. Luong Tam Quang presented 20 cars and 30 motorcycles at the ceremony in Vientiane. In his remarks, Quang expressed his confidence that Laos will effectively utilise the vehicles. Receiving the gifts, Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Security Gen. Vilay Lakhamphong highly appreciated the timely and practical assistance, which meets the actual needs and professional requirements of the Lao ministry. This reflects the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries' Parties, States, and people, he said. Earlier on the same day, while hosting a reception for the Vietnamese delegation, the Lao official expressed his wish for further cooperation with Vietnamese security force so that the Lao counterpart successfully fulfill its tasks this year and ensure the absolute safety for international conferences held in the country. For his part, Quang affirmed that the Vietnamese ministry always stands side by side with and is ready to cooperate and assist the Lao ministry in all situations. The two sides will maintain and improve the quality of their information exchange, situation grasp, and experience sharing, he said./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Vietnam's elevation of relations with major and important partners reflects the strongly enhanced mutual understanding and political trust between the country and the partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son told a question-and-answer session on March 18. Replying to legislators' questions at the event, part of the 31st meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Son cited Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as saying at the 32nd Diplomatic Conference that the upgrade of Vietnam's relations with important partners to comprehensive strategic partnerships was a highly important result that carries historic significance. Among the 30 strategic partners and comprehensive partners, Vietnam now has comprehensive strategic partnerships with seven countries. It has established comprehensive strategic partnerships or strategic partnerships with the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council, he noted. He highlighted the strongly enhanced mutual understanding and politica l trust as seen in the elevation of Vietnam's ties with major and important partners. Taking the US as an example, the minister said Vietnam normalised relations with this country in 1995, and bilateral ties were upgraded to a comprehensive partnership in 2013 and a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2023. Mutual trust has also improved much while exchanges and cooperation have been unceasingly fostered. On the basis of enhanced political trust, Vietnam's cooperation with the partners has also seen progress in other fields such as labour, science - technology, education - training, and culture, according to Son. Establishing and upgrading ties with partners, Vietnam has paid attention to reinforcing political trust and basing on each partner's strengths to promote relations in trade, investment, science - technology, and education - training in a more intensive and comprehensive manner. Vietnam has identified certain breakthroughs to be made in relations with partners, he said, elaborating that it tar gets breakthroughs in infrastructure connectivity with China, in the semiconductor industry with the US, in high-tech agriculture and education - training with Australia, and in official development assistance (ODA) with Japan. At the Q and A session, Minister Son also fielded questions about the implementation of economic, trade, and investment cooperation agreements in border localities, the planning of border gates, and the optimisation of border localities' advantages to boost socio-economic development. He also gave further information about some focuses of economic diplomacy, the maintenance and development of traditional cultural values and the Vietnamese language in overseas Vietnamese communities, and the mobilisation of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals' contributions to national development./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Nam Dinh: The authorities of the northern province of Nam Dinh on March 18 organised a ceremony to present Laos's friendship orders to local leaders of different periods and worked with a delegation from Laos's Oudomxay province. At the ceremony, Bounkhong Lachiemphone, Secretary of the Party Committee and governor of Oudomxay province, presented second- and third-class Freedom (Issara) Orders of Laos to eight leaders of Nam Dinh in various periods, and awarded a medal to the provincial Department of Education and Training. Secretary of the Nam Dinh Party Committee Pham Gia Tuc affirmed that these honours are the recognition of the two sides' effective cooperation and mutual assistance. At the meeting with the delegation led by Bounkhong, Chairman of the Nam Dinh People's Committee Pham Dinh Nghi stressed that over the past time, the two provinces have actively implemented cooperative activities based on their signed agreements, and maintained their high-level delegation exchanges. In the 2022-2024 period , Nam Dinh province has so far provided full scholarships and training for 13 students from Oudomxay. The two provinces, meanwhile, have exchanged information on their potential, strengths, and business climate. Nghi said that Nam Dinh will continue to promote the traditional relationship, solidarity, and effective cooperation with Oudomxay, especially in student training. The Lao Governor, for his part, expressed his wish for the comprehensive ties to be further strengthened in the future, especially in the field of agriculture./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov, who is paying an official visit to Vietnam, in Hanoi on March 18. The host leader affirmed Vietnam always keeps in mind Uzbekistan's wholehearted assistance during its struggle for independence, and that it attaches importance to the traditional friendship with the republics that used to be part of the former Soviet Union, including Uzbekistan. Lauding the significance of the first visit to Vietnam by an Uzbek foreign minister since the bilateral diplomatic ties were set up in 1992, PM Chinh held that on the basis of the traditional friendship, the two countries should promote cooperation comprehensively, between their Parties, governments, and parliaments, as well as via delegation exchanges and the establishment of new cooperation mechanisms between their ministries and sectors. He said as the two countries boast economic and trade complementarities, they should increase trade in the commodities the y are strong at such as cotton and production materials of Uzbekistan along with aquatic products, textiles - garments, and electronic devices of Vietnam. The Vietnamese leader also called for stronger partnerships in spearhead industries of both countries like petroleum and agriculture to guarantee energy and food security, as well as stronger locality-to-locality connections. Asking for strengthened collaboration at regional and international forums, the PM said Vietnam is ready to act as a bridge between Uzbekistan and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He also suggested Uzbekistan help Vietnam reinforce ties with Central Asian countries in the spirit of good friends and responsible partners. For his part, Saidov affirmed that Uzbekistan wishes to further enhance the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam, particularly in terms of economy, trade, and investment. He perceived that the two sides hold considerable cooperation potential. He also agreed on the cooperation directions the PM mentioned at the meeting. Reporting on the earlier talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son, Saidov noted the two sides will work out a cooperation plan between the two foreign ministries and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to perfect the legal foundation for developing the bilateral relations in such spheres as economy - trade, education, culture, and people-to-people exchanges in a more result-oriented manner. PM Chinh highly valued the talks' outcomes, asking the two foreign ministries to further bring into play their coordinating role so that the two countries' cooperation will obtain fruitful results in the time ahead. He also requested further promoting ties in education - training, culture, arts, tourism, people-to-people interaction, and exchanges between socio-political organisations such as alumni and youth ones to help intensify mutual understanding between the Vietnamese and Uzbek youths and nurture the friendship between the two n ations' people./. Source: Vietnam News Agency