Exchanging cooperation documents between Việt Nam and IAEA on Thursday in Vienna. — VNA/VNS Photo

VIENNA — The Vietnamese mission to international organisations and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on March 10 (local time) signed a Country Programme Framework (CPF) for cooperation with the agency on the sidelines of the meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.

The CPF defines cooperation contents between the two sides in the 2022-27 period.

In his speech at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Nguyễn Trung Kiên, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to IAEA, emphasised that the CPF had special significance as Việt Nam would be the president of the meeting of member countries of the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and the Pacific (RCA) in 2022-23.

The Vietnamese official thanked the IAEA for its technology transfer, equipment provision and training for Việt Nam, saying that the support would not only help Việt Nam improve its capacity in applying nuclear technology for development in general, but also create an important foundation for the Southeast Asian nation to successfully respond to global issues such as food security, disease, and improving the quality of agricultural products, and water sources.

Cooperation with the IAEA would also help Việt Nam successfully build a team of experts in many fields related to nuclear technology, and participate in more research programmes and projects hosted or initiated by the agency, Kiên said.

One of Việt Nam’s priorities in joining the IAEA Board of Governors for the 2022-23 term was to cooperate with other members of the board to promote the IAEA's role in nuclear technology development for peaceful purposes, he stated.

"Việt Nam hopes that the IAEA will continue to focus on programmes to support developing countries to accelerate the application of nuclear technology, thus helping the process to be carried out effectively," Kiên added.

Hua Liu, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, said Việt Nam was the first country that had signed a programme framework for cooperation with the IAEA for the 2022-27 period, stressing that this was an important document which would help the IAEA identify Việt Nam’s interest and needs in nuclear technology application, thereby supporting the IAEA in developing its annual technical cooperation programme.

Cooperation projects with Việt Nam in the 2022-23 period, which were approved by the IAEA Board of Governors in November 2021, were completely consistent with the content of the 2022-27 CPF that had just been signed, he said.

Liu spoke highly of Việt Nam’s role in regional cooperation in nuclear technology development, especially in training and capacity building for Laos and Cambodia through the tripartite cooperation programmes between Việt Nam, the IAEA and these countries.

He expressed the hope that in its upcoming role as the RCA’s president, Việt Nam would further promote regional cooperation, especially in nuclear technology development and training in developing countries. — VNS