Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son received the Minister in charge of Foreign Trade and French people abroad.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son received Minister of Foreign Trade and French expatriates Laurent Saint-Martin.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son welcomed Minister Laurent Saint-Martin on his first visit to Vietnam, affirming that Vietnam attaches importance to and wishes to further deepen the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with France, expressing his delight at the positive developments in the relationship between the two countries since the upgrade to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the official visit to France by General Secretary To Lam (October 2024).

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son welcomed the increasingly vibrant exchange of delegations at all levels, and the increasingly expanded cooperation mechanisms between Vietnam and France in many fields, bringing the comprehensive strategic partnership into depth and practicality.

The French Minister of Foreign Trade expressed his gratitude for the warm and friendly reception of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son; congratulated Vietnam on its current dynamic socio-economic development and believed that Vietnam will achieve many successes in implementing the goals set for the 100th anniversary of the Party's founding in 2030 and the 100th anniversary of the country's founding in 2045.

Minister Laurent Saint-Martin affirmed that Vietnam is one of France's important priority partners in the Asia-Pacific region and agreed with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son's assessments of the positive developments in the Vietnam-France relationship in recent times, especially in the field of trade and investment, one of the top important pillars within the framework of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Discussing the challenges and difficulties of the current world economy as well as ways to respond to trade tensions, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son emphasized that the Vietnamese Government is maximizing the motto of "calm, bravery, flexibility and creativity", "persisting in dialogue", and having support policies for businesses to enhance their competitiveness, ensure smooth infrastructure, open institutions and smart governance. This is also an opportunity for Vietnam to restructure its economy in a green and sustainable direction to proactively respond, enhance internal capacity and resilience of the economy to external fluctuations; diversify markets, especially potential markets, diversify products and supply chains.

The two sides agreed to continue to closely coordinate to maintain and strengthen the multilateral trade system, while strongly promoting bilateral trade and further opening up the market to each other, especially through the effective implementation and making good use of the great opportunities from the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA); promoting cooperation in areas of mutual strength such as infrastructure, transportation, renewable energy, green energy, science and technology, innovation, aerospace, training of high-quality human resources, especially in the field of semiconductors...

Minister Laurent Saint-Martin affirmed that France always attaches importance to its relations with Vietnam, a priority partner in the Indo-Pacific region.

In response to the proposal of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son, Minister Laurent Saint-Martin agreed to urge the French National Assembly to soon ratify the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), contributing to creating favorable conditions for investors from both countries to do business in Vietnam and France; urging the European Council (EC) to remove the IUU Yellow Card for Vietnam's seafood exports. On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bui Thanh Son suggested that the two countries continue to deepen cooperation in traditional fields such as health, culture, cooperation between localities, etc.; requested the French government to pay attention and create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in France to continue to promote its role as a bridge of friendship between the two countries; affirmed that it will continue to create favorable conditions for the French community, as well as French enterprises to invest and do business effectively and long-term in Vietnam.

The two sides agreed to continue to strengthen cooperation at multilateral forums and international organizations to promote multilateralism, respect for international law, and address global challenges. Regarding the East Sea issue, France affirmed its support for the stance of Vietnam and ASEAN on resolving disputes by peaceful means on the basis of compliance with international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), contributing to maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, freedom of aviation and navigation in the region.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/deputy-prime-minister-of-foreign-affairs-bui-thanh-son-contacts-minister-of-special-responsibility-for-foreign-trade-and-foreign-people-310924.html