Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh receives former French Prime Minister Eduord Philippe

On the afternoon of February 13, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Eduord Philippe, former French Prime Minister and now Mayor of Le Havre city.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh receives Mr. Eduord Philippe, former French Prime Minister, now Mayor of Le Havre city - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

Mr. Eduord Philippe is on a visit to Vietnam with a delegation of about 10 businesses in the fields of seaports, shipbuilding, information technology, directors and principals of some French universities.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is pleased to welcome Mr. Eduord Philippe back to Vietnam in 2023 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Vietnam - France strategic partnership.

The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the close and sincere feelings of Mr. Eduord Philippe in any position for Vietnam, as well as his contributions to promoting the Vietnam - France strategic partnership; Eduord Philippe asked Mr. Eduord Philippe to continue to support and make contributions to strengthen the Vietnam - France strategic partnership in the coming time.

The Prime Minister reiterated good impressions during his official visit to France in November 2021; thanks for the cooperation and support of the French Government and people in the development process of Vietnam; affirmed that the Vietnamese Government attaches great importance to relations with France, an important member of the EU, a traditional and strategic partner of Vietnam.

Prime Minister and Mr. Eduord Philippe assessed that the strategic partnership between Vietnam and France is developing effectively and practically in all fields with high political trust.

France has always been the leading European trade, investment and development aid partner in Vietnam. Bilateral trade turnover is recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 5.3 billion euros in 2022, up 10% compared to 2021. The two countries still have a lot of potential to boost trade turnover in in the coming time, especially after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) comes into effect.

According to the Prime Minister, Vietnam and France have many "predestined relationships" with many links in history, culture, people, political relations, economic cooperation... The Prime Minister highly appreciated the visit to Vietnam. this time by Mr. Eduord Philippe and a delegation of French businesses and universities; affirmed that Vietnam is always ready to create all favorable conditions for French businesses and universities to strengthen cooperation with Vietnamese partners.

  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Mr. Eduord Philippe assessed that the Vietnam-France strategic partnership has grown increasingly effective, essentially in all fields with high political trust - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

In order to further enhance the effectiveness and substantive cooperation between the two countries in general and between Le Havre and Vietnamese localities in particular in the coming time, the Prime Minister asked Mr. Eduord Philippe to contribute to promoting the French side's early ratification. standardization of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and support and promote the European Commission (EC) to soon remove the EC's IUU yellow card warning for Vietnamese seafood products.

The Prime Minister suggested Le Havre city continue to support Vietnamese schools to find new partners to strengthen training links between the two sides; to support Vietnam in training and fostering capacity improvement for the contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees; At the same time, he wished Mr. Eduord Philippe to promote French localities, including Le Havre city, to strengthen cooperation with Vietnamese localities, promote people-to-people exchanges and business communities of the two countries.

For his part, Mr. Eduord Philippe recalled the good impressions about the country and people of Vietnam during his visit to Vietnam in November 2018 as Prime Minister of France. Since 2018 until now, the world has experienced a lot of changes, Mr. Eduord Philippe highly appreciates and congratulates Vietnam on overcoming the past very difficult period.

He said the main purpose of the visit is to promote cooperation between French local businesses and Vietnamese businesses, strengthen educational cooperation, currently many universities in Le Havre are cooperating effectively with the University. Commerce, Foreign Trade University, Polytechnic University, Open University Ho Chi Minh City… The visit also aims to promote the connection between Le Havre city and Vietnamese cities; promote cooperation in seaports and marine economy with Phu Yen and Da Nang.

He said the French side and he personally will continue to promote cooperation with Vietnam, actively support Vietnam in the process of socio-economic development, especially in responding to climate change.

According to Baochinhphu.vn