Contribute to strengthening the relationship between Vietnam and Mongolia, Ireland, France and the Francophone community

According to the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the invitation of President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam To Lam and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, will pay a State visit to Mongolia, Ireland, attend the 19th Francophone Summit and pay an official visit to the French Republic from September 30 to October 7, 2024.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son gives an interview about General Secretary and President To Lam's working trip to Mongolia, Iceland and France. Photo: VNA

On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son gave an interview to the press before the working trip of the General Secretary and President.

From September 30 to October 7, 2024, General Secretary and President To Lam and his wife will pay a state visit to Mongolia and Ireland, attend the 19th Francophone Summit and pay an official visit to the French Republic. Could the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister please tell us the purpose and significance of this working trip?

The working trip of the General Secretary and President aims to reaffirm the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, diversification, proactiveness and activeness in comprehensive and extensive international integration, while also demonstrating the high regard of the Party and State of Vietnam for the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Mongolia, the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Ireland, and the Vietnam-France strategic partnership, with the desire to elevate and deepen cooperation frameworks in line with the new situation and interests of the countries.

The State visit to Mongolia is of special significance as it takes place on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the relationship is at its best stage of development. General Secretary and President To Lam will discuss with senior Mongolian leaders major orientations and important measures to further strengthen political trust as well as enhance cooperation in many priority areas of both sides, especially political cooperation, diplomacy, economy, trade, tourism and people-to-people exchange.

For Ireland, this is the first State visit since the two sides established diplomatic relations. Ireland is a nation with many similarities with Vietnam in terms of history and tradition of patriotism, will to rise up, diverse and unique culture. The two sides have much room and potential to strengthen cooperation and develop together. The two sides' senior leaders will discuss measures to promote extensive cooperation in many areas where Vietnam has demand and Ireland has strengths such as high-quality investment, science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, energy transformation, education and training, especially higher education.

With France, on the basis of the special "fateful" relationship and the results of the Strategic Partnership over the past 10 years, the leaders of the two sides will also discuss measures to bring the strategic partnership to a new level, increasingly in-depth, practical, commensurate with the potential and position of both countries in the region and the world; strengthen trade and investment cooperation; promote traditional areas of cooperation such as culture, education, science and technology, cooperation between localities; expand cooperation in new areas with great potential such as aerospace, renewable energy, high technology, digital economy, etc.

Through the trip, we will continue to strengthen coordination with other countries in resolving regional and global issues; encourage other countries to continue to pay attention and create conditions for the Vietnamese community to integrate more deeply into local life, promote its role as a bridge, and contribute to Vietnam's friendly relations with other countries.

General Secretary and President To Lam and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation will also attend the 19th Francophone Summit. This is the first time the General Secretary and President has attended the Francophone Summit and will deliver an important speech at the Summit, contributing to spreading more strongly the message of a proactive, positive, responsible Vietnam that is always ready to join hands with the international community to respond to challenges, contributing to a future of "peace, friendship, solidarity and sustainable development", as the goal of the Francophone Summit.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister, could you please tell us about the positive developments in bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Mongolia, Ireland, and France, as well as Vietnam's contributions to the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) in recent times?

The working trip of General Secretary and President To Lam took place in the context of Vietnam's relations with Mongolia, Ireland, France and the Francophone community continuing to develop positively and achieve many good results.

Mongolia is a country that strongly and deeply supports Vietnam both materially and spiritually in the struggle for national independence and liberation. Today, the two countries regularly help and support each other in the process of protecting, building and developing the country, maintaining close cooperation through Party, State, Government channels and people-to-people exchanges. Cooperation in various fields has been actively implemented by the two countries and achieved many substantive results.

Ireland is currently Vietnam's 6th largest trading partner in the EU market and has a preferential policy for Vietnam as one of two Asian countries receiving development aid (9 countries receiving development aid from Ireland include: Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Timor Leste and Vietnam), focusing on the fields of education, gender equality, climate change response, support for ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and support for mine clearance... To date, Ireland has granted about 250 scholarships to Vietnamese students and researchers through the Irish Aid Full Scholarship Program implemented since 2009. In addition, the two countries are continuing to promote the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Marine of Ireland.

For France, after 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations and 10 years of upgrading to a strategic partnership, political trust between the two countries has been increasingly consolidated. Most recently, for the first time, a French Minister of Defense attended the 70th Anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory, affirming his desire to join Vietnam in "putting the past behind and looking towards the future", for peace, cooperation and development. France is one of Vietnam's leading European partners in tourism, trade, investment, ODA; participating in many projects contributing to the development, modernization, improvement of the quality and living environment of the Vietnamese people such as the Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station Urban Railway Project, climate change response projects in the Mekong Delta, etc.

Cooperation between Vietnam and Francophone countries continues to develop well. The Francophone community always considers Vietnam a model of socio-economic development, a center of Francophone cooperation activities in the region. For its part, Vietnam is one of the members strongly promoting the economic pillar, especially the digital economy in the Francophone space. With 88 member countries and territories, a population of about 1.2 billion people, accounting for 16% of GDP and 20% of global trade, the Francophone economic space still has a lot of room for Vietnam to promote extensive cooperation, especially in the fields of economics, trade, investment, education and training, agriculture, sustainable tourism, science, technology, etc.

With these positive developments, I believe that the working trip of General Secretary and President To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation will be successful and achieve many important results, contributing to firmly consolidating the foundations and bases in Vietnam's relations with Mongolia, Ireland, France and the Francophone community; at the same time, exploring new areas and potentials in cooperation with each country, contributing to bringing relations with these countries into depth, substance, effectiveness, and suitability with the new situation.

Thank you very much Deputy Prime Minister and Minister!

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