Hanoi (VNA) – Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc held bilateral meetings with many foreign leaders on thesidelines of the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Brusselson October 18 and 19 (local time).

PM Phuc took theoccasions to inform the foreign leaders on Vietnam’s socio-economicachievements and its contributions to the common cause of the international community.

He asked the EU member countriesto push for the early signing of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)which was approved by the EC on October 17, underlining that together with the agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA), the EVFTA will provide an important foundationfor Vietnam and the EU to bring their relations into a new period of development,as well as to strengthen ASEAN-EU partnership and connectivity between EU andthe Asian-Pacific region.
 
The Vietnamese government leader urged the countries to backVietnam, the only candidate of Asia-Pacific, in running for a non-permanentseat in the UN Security Council during 2020-2021. He affirmed Vietnam’s strongcommitment to contribute more to maintaining international peace and securityonce it is elected to this important agency of the UN.

The foreign leadersappreciated Vietnam’s increasingly important role and position in the regionand the international arena. Many countries confirmed their support of Vietnam’scandidacy for a non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council in the2020-2021 tenure. They pledged to continue coordinating with Vietnam at the UNand other international and regional organisations in order to maintain peace,security, cooperation and development in the region and the world, includingthe East Sea, to settle disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of respectfor international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of theSea. The EU member countries expressed their backing of the EVFTA, saying thatthe early signing and ratification of the EVFTA will be a significant stepforward in realizing the EU’s strategy on connecting EU and Asia.
                       
During his meeting with President of the EC Jean Claude Juncker, PM Phuc welcomed the EC’s approval of the EVFTA onOctober 17, saying that the two sides should demonstrate the resolve toaccelerate procedures for the official signing of the pact, thus realizing thegreat benefits from the deal for both sides.

The EC President notedhis support of the early signing and ratification of the EVFTA, and affirmedthat the EU attaches importance to its cooperative ties with Vietnam.
           
The two leaders hailedthe signing of the Vietnam-EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and TradeVoluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA). They agreed to continue coordination for theeffective implementation of the EU’s development cooperation programmes forVietnam.
           
PM Phuc asked the EC toconsider Vietnam’s efforts in order to early lift the “yellow card” on Vietnam’sseafood exported to the EU.    

Talking to his Slovenian counterpart,PM Phuc affirmed that Vietnam always pays attention to developing friendshipand multi-faceted cooperation with traditional friends, including Slovenia.

The two PMs took notewith pleasure positive developments in bilateral economic-trade ties in therecent past. Two-way trade is growing fast, at an average rate of 75 percent ayear, reaching 328 million USD in 2017 compared to just 59 million USD in 2013.

They agreed to maintainthe exchange of delegations and meetings at high level, while implementingspecific measures to boost win-win partnership in maritime transport, tourism,pharmaceuticals and consumer goods.

In his meeting with PM Pedro Sanchez of Spain, PMPhuc asked the Spanish Government to encourage Spanish companies to invest morein Vietnam in their strong fields, such as energy, hi-tech, education and infrastructure.

The Spanish PM said he advocatesstronger relations between Vietnam and Spain as well as between Vietnam and theEU, adding that he wants to bolster cooperation with Vietnam in tourism,education-training and especially the popularization of Spanish culture andlanguage in Vietnam.
           
In another meeting, PM Phuc and Mongolian President Khaltamaagiin Battulga expressed satisfaction at thedevelopment of bilateral ties recently. They assigned the two ForeignMinistries to coordinate for the successful organization of activities to markthe 65th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties in 2019.

The two leaders reachedconsensus on maintaining all-level visits and meetings, and promoting trade. PMPhuc asked Mongolia to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese firms toinvest in Mongolia, including in supplying services in mining and oil and gas.  

Talking to Dutch PM MarkRutte, the Vietnamese PM proposed that the Netherlands facilitate market access for Vietnamese goods. Heaffirmed that Vietnam welcomes and offers favourable conditions for Dutch firmsto invest in Vietnam, especially in major projects and fields of the Netherlands’strength such as agriculture, food industry, chemicals, renewable energy, watermanagement, sea-based economy and logistics.       

The Dutch PMsaid his government encourages Dutch businesses to invest in the sea-basedeconomy and projects to adapt to climate change and fight coast erosion in Vietnam.

In another meeting, PM Phuc and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki agreed to coordinate for the effective implementationof agreements reached during the Vietnam visit by the Polish President in 2017,thus promoting bilateral economic-trade-investment ties.
The Polish PM said hewished to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in defence, the environment,green growth and tertiary education.  

Meeting with Finnish PM JuhaSipila, the Vietnamese PMthanked the Finnish Government and people for their support and help forVietnam over the past years. He said development aid projects sponsored byFinland have helped improve living conditions for Vietnamese people.
           
He suggested thatFinland continue to provide ODA for Vietnam in carrying out sustainabledevelopment goals, and that the two countries bolster ties ineducation-training as many Vietnamese students want to pursue education inFinland.

The Finnish leader saidFinland is ready to share experience with Vietnam and encourage investmentpartnership in clean energy, renewable energy, the environment, watertreatment, smart city and education-training.  
           
During a meeting with Chinese Premier LiKeqiang, PM Phuc hailed the new developments in bilateral ties and China’s goodwill in promoting bilateral cooperation in the past time. He proposed thatthe two sides maintain visits and meetings between high-ranking officials ofthe two Parties and countries, while pushing their ministries, sectors andlocalities to actively take measures to promote sustainable and balanced tradealong with reducing Vietnam’s trade deficit with China. He also urgedcoordination for the effective and on-schedule implementation of cooperative projects.         

The Vietnamese government leader affirmed that Vietnamwelcomes and creates favourable conditions for Chinese firms to carry outhi-tech and environmentally-friendly projects in Vietnam. He suggestedaccelerating cooperative projects in transport, agriculture, environment,science-technology, finance-monetary, and studying measures to cut costs forrailway transport of goods from Vietnam to other Asian and European countriesthrough China.

Regarding the sea issue, PM Phuc stressed that the two sides shouldcontrol disputes, maintain peace, stability in the East Sea; seriouslyimplement the common perception of leaders of both countries as well as the Vietnam-Chinaagreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues; persist insettling disputes by peaceful measures in line with international law and the1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, while well handling issues relatedto fisheries and fishermen’s operation at sea and respecting each other’s legitimaterights and interests.
           
Premier Li Keqiangaffirmed that the Party, Government and people of China are willing to workwith Vietnam to promote the friendly neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperationbetween the two countries. He said China hopes the two sides would seizeopportunities to boost win-win cooperation in all fields, well control thesituation and properly handle disputes, and maintain peace and stability in theEast Sea, thus contributing to the stable and sustainable development of theVietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
           
In another meeting, PM Phuc and hisNorwegian counterpart Erna Solberg agreed to promote bilateral partnership acrossthe fields and continue to coordinate at multilateral forums and the UN.

The Norwegian PM said Norway supportsVietnam’s bid to run for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council during2020-2021, while appreciating Vietnam’s participating iin the UN peacekeepingmission in South Sudan with the deployment of the field hospital level 2recently. Norway is ready to share experience with and help Vietnam enhance thecapacity of its peacekeeping forces, the PM said.

PM Erna Solberg also affirmed that she will push forthe early signing and ratification of the EVFTA.

The two PMs underlinedthe importance of the sea, and agreed on the need for not only preservation butalso sustainable development of the sea. To this goal, it is necessary tomaintain peace, stability and cooperation in each region as well as on theglobal scale on the basis of international law and basic principles of the UN.

In addition, PM Phucalso had sideline talks with UKPM Theresa May, Russian PM  Dmitry Medvedev, and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, during which the leaders discussed measures to enhance bilateral relationsand coordination at international forums. They reached agreement onfacilitating trade and investment and sustainable development, as well as onjoint efforts to enhance the effectiveness of multilateral mechanisms and therole of international law and basic principles of the UN.-VNA