Norway – Vietnam’s important partner in Northern Europe: PM

Chủ nhật - 26/05/2019 06:05 220 0

Vietnam always attachesimportance to developing the traditional friendship and multi-facetedcooperation with Norway – the country’s important partner in Northern Europe,Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said on May 24.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (left) and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna
Solberg - Photo: VNA

The leader made the affirmation during his talks withNorwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in Oslo, as part of his official visit tothe country.

PM Erna Solberg expressed her belief that PM Phuc’s visitwill contribute to enhancing the Vietnam-Norway relations.

Host and guest highly valued the strong developments in thebilateral ties across spheres over the past time, saying the two sides havemaintained high-level meetings.

They agreed to step up all-level delegation exchanges inorder to create momentum for cooperation in various realms.

PM Phuc thanked the Norwegian Government and people for theircontinuous official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam over the pastyears, helping the country in socio-economic development and fulfillment of theUN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as well as internationalintegration.

He called on Norway to maintain its development cooperationwith Vietnam and support the Southeast Asian nation in such fields asenvironment, education, economic management, administrative reform, and bomband mine clearance.

Progress has been made in collaboration in other areas,especially forestry, environment, fishery, renewable energy, maritimetransportation and shipbuilding, the two leaders said. However, the bilateraltrade has yet to match potential and strength of both countries.

They, therefore, consented to push ahead with negotiations ofthe free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Free TradeAssociation (EFTA), to which Norway is the coordinator.

The two countries will encourage their businesses to expandtheir operation in the respective market, particularly in solar energy,petroleum technological services and blue economy.

They will also promote the consumption and quality of theirseafood, including Vietnam’s tra fish and Norway’s salmon.

The leaders spoke highly the Vietnam-Norway Business Forumwhich was held earlier the same day in Oslo as part of PM’s Phuc ongoing visit,saying the event helped enterprises of the two countries seek cooperationopportunities and expand their investment and business.

They talked about partnership in education-training andculture, and agreed to assign ministries of the two countries to fostercollaboration in new spheres regarding women, peace and security, tourism andsports, and people-to-people exchange.

PM Erna Solberg lauded the role of the 20,000-strongVietnamese community in Norway in developing the friendship and exchangebetween the two peoples.

PM Phuc suggested the Norwegian Government to create morefavourable conditions for the community to work and integrate in the hostsociety.

During their talks, the leaders concurred that Vietnam andNorway should strengthen their close coordination at multilateral forums,especially the United Nations, and within the cooperation framework ofASEAN-Norway and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the context that bothcountries are running for non-permanent seats at the UN Security Council, withVietnam’s bid for the 2020-2021 term and Norway for the 2021-2022 tenure.

They affirmed their common commitments to sustainable andinclusive development in accordance with the UN’s Agenda for SustainableDevelopment Goals, emphasising affiliation in forest protection, response toclimate change and sea level rise, and plastic waste management.
Both PMs noted with pleasure the two countries’ mutualsupport at international forums and multi-lateral organisations, as well astheir efforts to join hands with the international community for not onlysustainable development but also the global peace.

Regarding the East Sea issue, they exchanged views on theimportance of and the need to ensure peace, stability, security, safety andfreedom of navigation and aviation in the area.

All disputes should be settled by peaceful measures, in linewith international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of theSea and other relevant regional documents, they said.

PM Erna Solberg congratulated Vietnam on socio-economicachievements the country has recorded over the past time, and praised Vietnam’srising role in the region and the world, especially its hosting of recent majorinternational events.

PM Phuc invited his Norwegian counterpart to visit Vietnamagain in the time ahead, and PM Erna Solberg accepted the invitation withpleasure.

Source: VNA

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