Review on external affairs from July 4-10: Russian FM's visit to Vietnam; 7th MLC Conference; late PM Abe Shinzo - great friend
Review on a number of news headlines on external affairs from July 4-10 by The World and Vietnam Report.
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| Party General Secretary receives Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs. (Photo: WVR/VNA) |
Leaders’ activities
From July 5-6, on the occasion of his official visit to Vietnam, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid a courtesy call to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and had a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Grigory Lokshin, an expert from the Centre for Vietnam and ASEAN Studies, has highlighted Vietnam's important role in maintaining stable ties between Russia and South East Asia.
On July 9, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a message of condolences to President of the Republic of Angola João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço over the death of former President José Eduardo dos Santos on July 8.
On the afternoon of July 6, at the Presidential Palace, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc received outgoing Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Gareth Ward and Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium Paul Jansen.
On July 8, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, on behalf of Party and State leaders and people of Vietnam, sent a message of condolences to President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Japan Kishida Fumio over the death of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on July 8. On the same day, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son also sent his condolences to Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa.
On the afternoon of July 5, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a phone conversation with the Republic of Korea’s Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on measures to boost bilateral relations. This was the first phone talk by the RoK’s Prime Minister with a foreign leader since he took office.
On the morning of July 5, at the Government Headquarters, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh received outgoing Danish Ambassador Kim Højlund Christensen, speaking highly of the Ambassador’s contributions to bringing green projects to Vietnam.
On the morning of July 5, at the National Assembly House, Standing Vice Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Tran Thanh Man hosted a reception for a delegation from Indonesia’s Regional Representative Council (DPD) led by Chairperson of its Committee for Parliamentary Cooperation Sylviana Murin. Standing Vice Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Tran Thanh Man expressed his belief that the two countries’ parliamentary cooperation will contribute to promoting the Vietnam-Indonesia Strategic Partnership.
On July 6, Head of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung held an online talk with Liu Jianchao, head of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. During the talks, the two sides spotlighted the positive development of the relationship between the two Parties and countries, saying that this was reflected by regular exchanges and meetings between their senior leaders; and cooperation among ministries, sectors and localities of the two nations.
Previously, on July 5, Le Hoai Trung conducted an online online conversation with Vice Chairman of the Presidium of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) and Head of its International Department Ogata Yasuo. The two officials informed each other about the situation, development and foreign policies of each Party; and exchanged opinions and assessments on the world and regional situation.
Activities of the Foreign Affairs Minister
On July 8, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son received Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Capaya Rodriguez, who was on an official visit to Vietnam from July 6-10, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive partnership (June 1/2007-2022).
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| Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son receives Ambassador Kim Højlund Christensen. (Photo: WVR/Quang Hoa) |
On the afternoon of July 6, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son received outgoing Danish Ambassador Kim Højlund Christensen. Vietnam and Denmark should continue to coordinate closely to optimise their cooperation potential in areas of Denmark’s strength and Vietnam’s demand, especially in climate change, environment and green growth, while expanding partnerships in education, training, high-tech agriculture, and people-to-people exchange, the Minister said.
On July 5, in Hanoi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a conference to review economic diplomacy in the first 6 months of 2022 and set forth tasks for the rest of the year.
On July 4, the 7th Mekong - Lancang Cooperation (MLC) Foreign Ministers Meeting took place in Bagan, Myanmar with the participation of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, China and Vietnam. Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son led the Vietnamese delegation attend the conference.
With the theme "Solidarity for Peace and Prosperity", the conference assessed the progress made in the implementation of the MLC Cooperation Five-Year Action Plan (2018-2022), agreeing on four main contents that MLC cooperation will focus on, namely economic recovery and development; disaster management, environmental protection, climate change adaptation, sustainable use of water resources; strengthening health security and people exchange.
Within the framework of the conference, Minister Thanh Son had bilateral meetings with Heads of delegations from Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and China.
On July 6, at the Government Guest House, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son welcomed and held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Bilateral activities
Over the sudden death of the former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on July 8, the World &Vietnam Report had a special series of interviews with former Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Quoc Cuong and former Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Nguyen Phu Binh on Mr. Abe - a great friend of Vietnamese people.
At the invitation of Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Religion Santiago Andres Cafiero paid an official visit to Vietnam from July 9-11. On this occasion, Argentine Ambassador to Vietnam Luis Pablo Maria Beltramino had an article in the World &Vietnam Report to review the achievements in the bilateral cooperation.
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| Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc and Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Capaya Rodriguez co-hosted the ninth political consultation in Hanoi. |
On the morning of July 8, in Hanoi, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc and Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Capaya Rodriguez co-hosted the ninth political consultation in Hanoi. The two sides agreed on measures to promote the relationship between the two countries in a more substantive and effective manner and affirmed their stance in favor of settling international disputes by diplomatic and peaceful means on the basis of international law.
From July 6-7, Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Vu Quang Minh visited the city of Wernigerode (in Saxony-Anhalt state). The Ambassador had a discussion with city leaders about measures to further strengthen relations between the two sister cities of Wernigerode-Hoi An, as well as the prospect of opening up cooperation with other localities of Vietnam.
From July 6-7, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Vietnam and Canada held the first meeting of the Joint Economic Committee with a view to enhancing bilateral economic ties to a new level and intensifying the two countries’ comprehensive partnership. The event was co-chaired by Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai and Canada’s Deputy Minister of International Trade David Morrison.
From July 4-5, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu visited Qatar and co-chaired the 2nd Vietnam-Qatar Deputy Foreign Minister's Political Consultation with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi.
On the morning of July 4, at the Headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Assistant Minister Do Hung Viet received Irish Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Colm Brophy. The two sides expressed their delight at the positive development of the relationship Vietnam-Ireland in the fields of politics-diplomacy, trade-investment, education, development cooperation.
On July 4, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a ceremony took place to receive medical supplies donated by the people of Oman to support the Việt Nam Red Cross Society in COVID-19 prevention and humanitarian activities. Attending the ceremony were Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu and Ms. Bui Thi Hoa, President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross Society.
Professor Rajaram Panda shared with the World & Vietnam Newspaper about Vietnam-India relations in terms of bilateral and multilateral cooperation on the occasion of 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries (1972-2022).
Last week, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Morocco and Benin Dang Thi Thu Ha presented a copy of the Credential Letter of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Foreign Minister Benin Aurélien Agbenonci; Ambassador Luong Quoc Huy presented the Credentials Letter to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Multilateral activities
On July 7, at the United Nations (UN) office in Geneva, Ambassador, Head of Delegation of Francophone countries had a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss global issues in UN agenda. Speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations, emphasized the need to further expand and promote cooperation between the United Nations Organization and the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).
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| Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang delivered speech at the meeing. |
On July 7, addressing the meeting between UN Deputy Secretary-General, Executive Director of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and Ambassador, Head of Delegation of ASEAN Member States to the UN on promoting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and strengthening the cooperation relationship between ESCAP and ASEAN, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang affirmed Vietnam has always placed people as the center and driving force of development and in recent years has many achievements in socio-economic development and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
On July 6, in Paris, France, during the ninth session of the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention 2003, Vietnam was elected to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage for the 2022-2026 term with 120 votes, the highest among the elected countries. This is the second time Vietnam has taken on this responsibility at UNESCO's key cultural governing body, after the 2006-2010 term.
On July 6, Ambassador Nguyen Hai Bang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to ASEAN, attended the second meeting in 2022 of the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC) in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia.
On July 5, receiving the Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), Dr Anoulak Kittikhoun, Assistant Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to friendly cooperation among countries in the Mekong River basin, and highly values the role of the Mekong River Commission (MRC). The diplomat also noted that the MRC and the 1995 Agreement on “Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin” have made important contributions to the stability and sustainable growth in the area.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson
On the afternoon of July 7, at the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang informed about the case of two Vietnamese citizens being arrested by the police in Spain; the situation of Vietnamese people being scammed and forced to work in Cambodia; information on 33 Vietnamese arrested in Korea; and the intention of the United States to cooperate with Vietnam on illegal, undeclared and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing).
(Source: WVR)
