PARIS — The Secretary General of the Communist Party of Việt Nam, Nguyễn Phú Trọng, met French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe in Paris on Monday.

The meeting was part of Trọng’s ongoing official visit to the European country.
The head of the French government lauded Trọng’s current visit, considering it an important milestone in promoting strategic partnership links between the two countries.
Both the leaders shared their happiness with the quality and dynamism of Việt Nam-France cooperation in various fields, ranging from politics, diplomacy, economics, security and defence to culture, health, science, education, training, law and justice, besides collaboration among localities.
They affirmed their desire to deepen the strategic partnership in the coming time and agreed to improve the exchange of information and contacts, especially high-level ones, to increase the effectiveness of dialogue and cooperation mechanisms in all areas, especially in the economy, and to strengthen coordination in regional and international forums.
They emphasised that economic cooperation always played an important role in bilateral relations and agreed to strengthen economic, commercial and investment ties to match with the ties in politics and culture.
Philippe expressed his satisfaction at the signing of contracts and economic collaboration documents during the visit and said the French government would promote the implementation of the same.
He also said his government would encourage and create favourable conditions for French provinces and companies to expand cooperation with their Vietnamese counterparts for mutual benefits, adding he wanted the Vietnamese government to facilitate investment by French companies.
On his part, Trọng suggested that the two sides make more efforts to promote the potential of economic cooperation and ensure effective implementation of projects.
He affirmed that Việt Nam was willing to facilitate the participation of French companies in its industrialisation and modernisation and was ready to be a bridge for them to access the markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The leaders expressed their desire to accelerate the signing and ratification of the Free Trade Agreement between Việt Nam and the European Union in 2018, thus creating a new impetus for economic, commercial and investment co-operation among Việt Nam, France and the European Union.
The Vietnamese leader asked the French government to increase support and cooperation in the field of training and create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community living in France.
Trọng also invited Philippe to visit Việt Nam at an appropriate time. The French leader accepted the invitation. — VNS