Paris, (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hada meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and attended a banquet hosted by theFrench President on November 4 (French time).

During the  meeting, Macronwelcomed the official visit to France by PM Chinh during his first trip to Europeas Prime Minister of Vietnam. He spoke highly of Vietnam’s role and position inthe region, and expressed his wish to further deepen the Vietnam-Francestrategic partnership.

The French President thanked Vietnam for giving medical masks to France whenthe COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020, and announced that France will provideVietnam with an additional 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine through the bilateralchannel and 970,000 other doses through the Covax mechanism.

PM Chinh thanked France for the support in vaccine and medicalsupplies and said he hoped the European country will continue to help Vietnamin medical supplies and the production technology of medicine for COVID-19treatment.

The two leaders hailed the effective Vietnam-France cooperationin many fields and agreed to build annual plans with specific tasks to furtherdeepen the two countries’ strategic partnership.

The French side said it is ready to coordinate with Vietnam to prepare for the12th conference on localities’ cooperation in Hanoi at the end ofnext year.

The two sides noted the need to further strengthen the pillar of economic,trade and investment cooperation in the Vietnam-France strategic partnership.They agreed upon directions and measures to further facilitate trade exchange,and accelerate cooperative projects in key fields.

The French President appreciated bilateral cultural exchangeand proposed that the two countries continue to facilitate the activities ofthe French Institute in Vietnam and the Vietnam Culture Centre in France.

PM Chinh shared the French leader’s view, and asked France to maintain andincrease cooperative projects in health care. He hailed the programme onteaching French and teaching in French in Vietnam, adding that he hoped Francewill create more favourable conditions for the exchange of pupils and students,increase scholarships and train more public administrative personnel forVietnam.

He appreciated France’s coordination with Vietnam at multilateral forums,particularly during the time Vietnam serves as a non-permanent member of the UNSecurity Council. He asked France to work as a bridge to promote ties betweenVietnam, as well as the ASEAN, and the  EU,particularly when France assumes the Presidency of the EU in January 2022.

The two sides agreed to actively implement and optimize the Vietnam-EU FreeTrade Agreement and push the process of ratifying the Vietnam-EU InvestmentProtection Agreement.

President Macron said France is willing to promote cooperation with Vietnam indeveloping sustainable fisheries, and pledged to study and work with theEuropean Commission on the early removal of the yellow card against Vietnam’s aquaticproducts.

Discussing international and regional issues of shared concern, the FrenchPresident said France’s Indo-Pacific strategy attaches importance to ASEAN’scentrality and the ensuring of security, safety and freedom of maritime andaviation.  He stressed his support of thesettlement of disputes by peaceful means based on international law, including the1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, particularly concerning the East Seaissue.

PM Chinh hailed France’s  role andposition in the EU and the international arena, and welcomed countries,including France, to bring into play their role and responsibility to contributeto common peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

The two leaders agreed to issue a joint statement on the occasion of PM Chinh’svisit to France.

Chinh conveyed invitations to visit Vietnam from PartyGeneral Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to PresidentMacron, who accepted the invitation with pleasure./.