New York (VNA) – President Nguyen Xuan Phuchad meetings with many foreign leaders and World Bank Group (WB) PresidentDavid Malpass shortly after he arrived in New York on September 21 (local time)for the General Debate of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session (UNGA 76).

The President met with President of the Republic of KoreaMoon Jae-in, who said that the RoK wants to further beef up the strategicpartnership with Vietnam, so as to lift two-way trade to 100 billion USD by 2023and deepen cooperation in digital economy, bio-products and finance. Moon announcedthat the RoK will donate more than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine which willbe delivered in mid-October to Vietnam

Thanking the RoK for its much-needed assistance, President Phuc saidthe two countries need to soon keep the virus at bay to promote their strategicpartnership more widely and comprehensively in the coming time, particularlywhen they are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their diplomatic relationsnext year.

Phuc asked the RoK side to continue expanding FDIprojects, both in size and number, in Vietnam and ramping up technologytransfer to domestic firms while pledging to provide further support for Koreancompanies to do business in the Southeast Asian country.

He also had a meeting with Irish Prime Minister MichaelMartin, during which both leaders expressed their delight at the strong growthof the bilateral trade, which reached 4.2 billion USD last year despite theimpacts of COVID-19.

The Vietnamese president suggested the two sides resumedelegation exchanges and meetings at levels and foster cooperation in multipleareas to mark the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic ties this year as soonas the pandemic is brought under control.

He asked PM Martin to push for the early ratification ofthe EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) at the Irish nationalparliament and maintain the provision of Official Development Assistance (ODA)to Vietnam in the coming time.

He wished Ireland to help Vietnam gain broader access toCOVID-19 vaccine supply and provide it with medical supplies, such asventilators and test kits.

Phuc also thanked Ireland for its support at the UNSecurity Council.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksenof Demark, President Phuc proposed assisting Vietnam in accessingvaccine supplies, including via the vaccine-sharing COVAX Facility.

The two leaders said they are pleased to see to thedevelopment of the two-way trade and the fulfillment of goals set in theVietnam-Denmark Action Plan for the 2019 – 2020. The two sides are activelyformulating an action plan for 2021 – 2022.

Frederiksen agreed with Phuc’s proposal, saying she willencourage more Danish enterprises to invest in Vietnam in the fields ofmaritime transport, seaport construction, shipbuilding, manufacturing of energyequipment, renewable energy, green technologies, sustainable husbandry andfisheries, green transformation, and climate change.

Meeting with the Vietnamese President, President ofSlovenia Borut Pahour hailed the positive developments of the Slovenia-Vietnamties, and voiced his hope to elevate Vietnam’s position in the country’sforeign policy.

For his part, President Phuc suggested the two countriesearly hold the third session of the Intergovernmental Slovenian–VietnameseCommission for cooperation in economic-trade and science-technology, possiblyin virtual form if necessary, to discuss cooperation orientations in potentialfields such as machinery mechanics, automatism, logistics, food processing andsea port.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the transfer ofproduction technology for COVID-19 treatment medicine for Vietnam and negotiationson the recognition of each other’s COVID-19 vaccination certificate andpassport, paving the way for the travel of their citizens when internationalair routes resume.

The Vietnamese President said that Vietnam pays specialattention to close collaboration with the EU in fisheries development andsustainable seafood exploitation. He urged Slovenia, as rotating President ofthe Council of the EU, to support and promote the removal of the “yellow card”imposed on Vietnam's aquatic products.

Vietnam holds a consistent viewpoint of promotingresponsible and sustainable seafood exploitation in line with regulations ofinternational law, he affirmed.

During his meeting with President of the DominicanRepublic Luis Abinader, the Vietnamese State leader showed support for theDominican Republic’s intention to open an embassy in Vietnam.

He assigned the Foreign Ministry to work with itsDominican Republic counterpart to carry out the plan so as to foster thebilateral ties in a practical manner.

On the same day, President Phuc also met with heads ofstates and high-ranking officials of Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Latvia,Sweden, Guyana, Lesotho, Costa Rica, Colombia and Uruguay, during which theydiscussed practical measure to strengthen and develop relations.

Leaders of the countries highly valued Vietnam’sperformance as a non-member of the UNSC and the country’s effective andpragmatic engagement and contributions to global tasks, which they saiddemonstrates Vietnam’s high sense of responsibility and increasing role andposition in the international arena.

President Phuc and the countries’ leaders reiterated thatpeace, stability, maritime security and freedom of navigation in the East Seaare of mutual concern, and underlined that disputes should be resolved bypeaceful measures in tandem with international law.

Also in New York, President Phuc met with the US SpecialPresidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry.

Appreciating Kerry’s contributions to the Vietnam - USrelations over the past decades, President Phuc spoke highly of the initiativesby President Joe Biden’s administration to promote global efforts in climatechange response.

The Vietnamese leader said both countries should enhancecooperation in developing renewable energy, improving climate changeadaptation, and managing trans-boundary water resources via bilateral andmultilateral mechanisms.

Vietnam is strongly committed to responding to climatechange, he stressed.

Kerry affirmed that the US continues to attach importanceto the comprehensive partnership with Vietnam.

He emphasised the US’ determination and efforts tocontinue strengthening cooperation with and assisting developing countries,including Vietnam, to cope with this global issue.

Talking to WB President DavidMalpass, President Phuc said WB-funded projects and its policy advice havesubstantially contributed to Vietnam’s economic development and social securityand helped the Vietnamese Government make effective macro-economic policies,surmount impacts of the global economic crisis, and maintain positive growth.

He thanked the WB for providing 6.2 million USD innon-refundable aid for Vietnam last year, and supporting allowing the countryto delay the payment of certain loans given by the WB’s InternationalDevelopment Association (IDA) in order to reserve resources for purchasingvaccines, biological products, and medical equipment in the face of thepandemic.

The Vietnamese State leader asked the WB to continuegiving policy advice on economic recovery and helping Vietnam access and buyCOVID-19 vaccines, receive vaccine production technology, and manufacturevaccines in the country.

The WB Group President said he is impressed by theVietnamese Government’s efforts in COVID-19 prevention and control, as well aseconomic recovery.

He also thanked the Government for closely coordinatingwith the WB, stating that the WB will keep accompanying Vietnam in the fightagainst COVID-19 and increase policy advice to help the country realise thegoal of becoming a developed and high-income nation by 2045./.