Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (right) at a reception with Palestinian Minister of the Interior Ziad Hab Al-Reeh in Hà Nội on Monday. – VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính said that in its foreign policy, Việt Nam always attaches importance to ties with Palestine while meeting Palestinian Minister of the Interior Ziad Hab Al-Reeh in Hà Nội on Monday.

At the reception, PM Chính conveyed the regards of Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, President Võ Văn Thưởng, and National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and PM Mohammad Shtayyeh.

He said since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties 35 years ago, Việt Nam and Palestine had seen positive progress in their cooperation in politics-diplomacy, economy, culture, education-training, and national defence-security.

PM Chính added that going through many wars and understanding the value of peace, Việt Nam always paid attention to and followed the situation in Palestine and shared the difficulties that the Palestinian people had endured after years of conflict.

"Việt Nam's consistent stance is to support justice and peace, dialogue, and peaceful settlement of conflicts," he said.

The PM added that after 36 years of renewal and integration, Việt Nam had obtained many important achievements. The size of its economy reached over US$400 billion, while the value of the national brand hit $431 billion last year.

In the future, he hoped that Việt Nam and Palestine would work closely together to uphold each country's role, position and reputation and support each other within bilateral and multilateral cooperation frameworks. Firstly, the two countries would organise activities celebrating the 35th anniversary of their diplomatic relations, facilitate the exchange of all-level delegations, and promote cooperation in areas where one side has a demand and the other has strengths, such as Arabian and Vietnamese language training.

The host suggested the Palestinian Ministry of the Interior and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security strengthen cooperation, share information, deal with transnational crimes, ensure the security and safety of representative offices and citizens in each territory, support training and improve the capacity of law enforcement, contributing to deepening bilateral ties in an effective and practical manner.

Minister Ziad Hab Al-Reeh said the potential of bilateral coordination remained huge. He hoped to continue stepping up bilateral ties across the board, including economy and security and vowed to further contribute to bilateral relations, especially in security and Arabic language training.

He informed PM Chính about the current difficulties faced by Palestine and suggested the international community, including Việt Nam, help Palestine settle disputes and differences through peaceful means.

On regional and global issues, the two sides agreed to support each other at international forums of which they are members, back ASEAN and Việt Nam’s stance on the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) issue, including ensuring safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the region, settling disputes peacefully in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). – VNS