Kampala (VNA) – Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan had meetings with President ofUganda Yoweri Museveni, Secretary-General of the United Nations AntonioGuterres, and First Vice President of Iran Mohammad Mokhber in Kampala on January20.

The eventstook place on the sidelines of the 19th Summit of the Non-AlignedMovement (NAM) in the capital city of Uganda.

At theirmeeting, the Ugandan and Vietnamese leaders discussed concrete directions fordeveloping the two countries’ cooperation in all fields in a result-orientedmanner.

In termsof politics - diplomacy, they affirmed the importance of increasing delegationexchanges to enhance mutual understanding and political trust and createmomentum for economic ties. They agreed to maintain close coordination and mutualsupport at multilateral forums, especially the UN and NAM, as well as importantorganisations in the two regions such as the African Union and the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations.

Xuan calledon Uganda to support ASEAN’s common stance on the peaceful settlement ofdisputes in the East Sea with respect for international law.

Regarding economic cooperation, the two sides agreed to actively implement theoutcomes of President Museveni’s visit to Vietnam, increase the exchange of businessdelegations, work together to hold investment and trade promotion events, andimprove agricultural cooperation effectiveness.

Museveni highly valued Vietnam’s information technology capacity, asking theSoutheast Asian nation to assist his country in digital transformation andtraining of high-quality manpower in technology, automation, and artificialintelligence.

Meanwhile,Xuan asked Uganda to create conditions for major telecoms businesses of Vietnamlike Viettel to seek investment opportunities.

The two leaders agreed to step up the negotiations on and signing of importantbilateral cooperation documents, including an agreement on investmentfacilitation and protection and another on double-taxation avoidance, therebycompleting the legal framework for fostering bilateral economic cooperation.

Aspart of the Vietnamese Vice President’s activities in Uganda, the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry and the Uganda National Chamber of Commerceand Industry signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation

Talkingto the UN Secretary-General, Xuan highly valued Guterres’s significantcontributions to global peace, security, and development amid numerous challenges.She underlined Vietnam’s consistent and strong support for multilateralism andthe global governance system with the UN at the centre, along with the country’ssupport for the Secretary-General’s efforts and initiatives for peace, reconciliation,and enhancement of strategic trust among countries.
         
She statedthat Vietnam are determined to actively and responsibly contribute to the UN’scommon works, including the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals for2030 and the target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Duringthis process, Vietnam hopes to continue receiving the UN’s effective cooperationand assistance, particularly in terms of access to finance and technology andhuman resources training, the Vice President noted, calling on the Secretary-Generalto create favourable conditions for developing countries to bring into playtheir role and voice in the settlement of global issues.

For hispart, Guterres considered Vietnam as a model of a war-torn country now emergingas a pillar in the promotion of global peace.

He stressedthat the UN is ready to develop multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam, andhopes the country will continue making effective contributions to majorprocesses of the UN in the coming time, including the Summit of the Future2024, to work towards a world of peace, sustainable development, and betterequality.

Both leaders also shared common opinions about the role of multilateralism, thedemand for reforming international financial institutions, and the enhancement ofthe ASEAN - UN cooperation for peace and stability in Southeast Asia, includingthe East Sea.

At another meeting, Vice President Xuan and First Vice President of Iran Mokhberapplauded the progress in their countries’ relations and agreed on the need tofoster the coordination of stances at multilateral forums for the sake ofpeace, stability, and sustainable development in their respective regions andthe world.

Xuannoted Vietnam always treasures the friendship and multifaceted cooperation withIran, one of its important partners in the Middle East, and that the two sidesshould keep close coordination to implement the agreements reached during theofficial visit to Iran by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue in August2023.

She asked relevant ministries and sectors of the two countries to continuereviewing and updating cooperation mechanisms, and soon organise the 10th meeting of the Vietnam - Iran Inter-governmental Committee to remove bottlenecksand facilitate economic, investment, and trade links.

Mokhbersaid his country always views Vietnam as an important partner in Southeast Asia.He agreed with Xuan about the promotion of economic and trade ties on par withthe countries’ potential, and the expansion of partnerships in other fields ofcommon interest like science - technology, education - training,people-to-people exchanges, and locality-to-locality connections.

The FirstVice President also voiced his hope for a visit to Vietnam in the near futureto help intensify bilateral relations.

On thisoccasion, the two sides touched upon some international and regional issues of sharedconcern, including the Middle East situation and the East Sea issue./.