Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính with United Nations Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner in New York on May 16. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

NEW YORK — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has asked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s help in achieving carbon emission neutrality by 2050.

He was speaking during a meeting with Administrator Achim Steiner in New York on May 16 (local time) as part of his working trip to the US.

PM Chính said he highly valued the important role, strategic direction and current leadership of UNDP in promoting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

He thanked the UNDP for the consistent support for Việt Nam in reconstruction, nation building and socio-economic development processes over the past 50 years.

PM Chính welcomed and highly appreciated the UN-Energy Plan of Action which Achim Steiner personally served as Co-Chair, with the aim of supporting countries in equitable energy transition, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and strengthening of climate change response.

Việt Nam has adopted the Socio-Economic Development Strategy 2021-30 and is currently implementing the Socio-Economic Development Plan 2021-25 to realise the goal of becoming a developed country with modern industry and upper middle-income status; and becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045, he noted.

These are huge ambitious visions that require a lot of effort, while on the other hand, the country is facing many challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing inequality and exacerbating many existing problems, according to the Prime Minister.

The Vietnamese Government leader welcomed the cooperation between Việt Nam and UNDP in recent times, especially in the area of green and sustainable development and climate change response, and said he would direct agencies to closely coordinate with UNDP in technical assistance and policy consultation for areas of interest like transition into carbon neutral, green economy, and post-pandemic recovery.

With Việt Nam’s recent commitment at the UN COP 26 towards carbon neutrality by 2050 which requires a huge investment to the tune of US$350-400 billion, PM Chính asked UNDP to continue to provide technical assistance to help achieve energy transition partnerships with G7 countries and help Việt Nam with development of strategy to mobilise climate finance from partners.

The UNDP official congratulated Việt Nam on the great achievements in recent years thanks to the right guidelines and policies, saying that Việt Nam was a model in socio-economic development and implementation of the SDGs, contributing valuable practical experience to the UN and the international community.

He was especially impressed by Việt Nam’s flexible response in the fight against COVID-19, directions and strong commitments in green recovery, climate change response, and the breakthroughs by the country in institutions, human resources, infrastructure, and digital economy.

Achim Steiner affirmed that UNDP was proud to cooperate with Việt Nam and was always ready to support, advise on policies, and mobilise resources for the new development phase of Việt Nam, especially in the creation of policies and strategies for socio-economic development towards green economy, sustainability, and inclusiveness; attracting investment, financial, and green technology resources to Việt Nam to assist in improving the capacity to respond to climate change, and promote an equitable energy transition, and to help with handling unexploded ordnances.

He also hoped that Việt Nam would be an Asia-Pacific model for countries in need of investment, energy conversion, biodiversity, and environmental protection. — VNS