Vietnam seeks additional COVID-19 vaccine support from France

While receiving French Ambassador Nicolas Warnery in Hanoi, Chinh thanked the Government and people of France for promptly providing Vietnam with COVID-19 vaccines and medical equipment and supplies to help it combat the virus.

The Government leader recalled the long-standing and effective cooperation in the medical field between Vietnam and France, which he said should be enhanced, especially in sharing experiences in COVID-19 prevention and control.

He suggested that France encourage its medical businesses to increase cooperation with their Vietnamese counterparts in order to improve the capacity of the healthcare sector and develop the pharmaceutical industry.

To mark 50 years of diplomacy and 10 years of the Vietnam – France strategic partnership in 2023, the Prime Minister said the two countries should work more closely together to take their strategic partnership to new heights, by maintaining high-level visit exchanges, improving the operational efficiency of existing cooperation mechanisms and accelerating the implementation of important projects.

With regard to the Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station urban railway project, the Prime Minister said he has directed the Hanoi administration to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies and foreign contractors to urgently remove obstacles and speed up its progress.

French Ambassador Nicolas Warnery expressed his delight at the positive developments in the Vietnam-France strategic partnership, as evidenced in recent phone calls between the two countries’ senior leaders and in mutual support in COVID-19 prevention and control.

Vietnam is an important partner of France in Southeast Asia, and serves as a bridge to promote the France-ASEAN Development Partnership as well as the EU-ASEAN relationship, noted Warnery.

He highly appreciated the Vietnamese government’s assistance to French businesses, affirming many large French firms such as Airbus, Thales, EDF, Total, and Air Liquide wish to invest in Vietnam, especially in the fields of aerospace, infrastructure, renewable energy, climate change adaptation, and high technology.

On bilateral trade, the Ambassador said that he would coordinate with French authorities to promote the early ratification of the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

He assured his host that France is willing to find all possibilities to deliver more vaccines to Vietnam in the coming time, while urging the European Commission to soon remove the ‘yellow card’ warning for Vietnamese seafood.

Both host and guest shared the view that cooperation between Vietnam and France in the multilateral framework has been increasingly tightened. They agreed to strengthen cooperation in the field of UN peacekeeping in French-speaking countries.

Regarding the East Sea issue, Ambassador Warnery affirmed that France wishes to maintain peace, stability, security, safety, freedom of navigation and overflight, and settle disputes by peaceful means on the basis international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).