President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher (right) welcomes Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn. – VNA/VNS Photo

PARIS – Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn met with President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher in Paris on Tuesday, as part of his working visit to France.

The minister also had a working session with the French Senate’s Vice President Pierre Laurent, who is also former National Secretary of the French Communist Party.

At those meetings, Sơn affirmed that Việt Nam always attaches importance to developing its comprehensive relations with France, through all the Government, legislature and party channels.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties and the 10th anniversary of the bilateral strategic partnership, the minister suggested Việt Nam and France continue boosting friendship exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas.

The host leaders emphasised the close ties between Vietnamese and French peoples, and expressed their belief that Sơn’s visit will contribute to deepen the strategic partnership.

Larcher spoke highly of the success of the 12th Việt Nam-France decentralised cooperation conference, which was held in Hà Nội last April, saying the event served as an important cooperation mechanism in order to enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

The French Senate President expressed his hope that the two sides will closely coordinate in implementing economic projects, and expanding their collaboration in potential fields like green transition and climate change.

The French side took note of Việt Nam’s proposal to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in France, helping them maintain their role as the bridge between the two countries.

The two sides agreed to enhance parliamentary ties, especially through all-level delegation exchanges, and close coordination and support at regional and international inter-parliamentary forums, and to promote activities of friendship parliamentarians groups.

They will also work to forge economic cooperation – an important pillar of the strategic partnership – and continue to fully and effectively implement the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The host leaders also acknowledged Việt Nam's proposal on the early ratification of the EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to maximise cooperation potential in investment, and on urging the European Commission (EC) to soon remove its “yellow card” warning on Vietnamese seafood.

The two sides consented to further closely coordinate at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations (UN), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the Francophone Community, and promote the ASEAN-EU cooperation.

They shared the view on the importance of tightening the cooperation framework between Việt Nam and France in coping with regional and global issues, particularly in ensuring freedom, security and safety of navigation and aviation, maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea (internationally known as South China Sea), and settling disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Meeting with OECD Secretary-General

Sơn holds talks with Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann in Paris. — VNA/VNS Photo

The same day Sơn met with Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann in Paris, France, on the sidelines of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting.

He lauded the two sides for their efforts in completing the building of an action programme to implement the memorandum of understanding on strengthening their cooperation in the 2022-26 period.

The minister suggested the organisation continue its policy consultancy to help Việt Nam restructure its economy, reform its growth model based on science-technology, and promote innovations and the digital economy.

He also called for the OECD’s coordination and advice in such new issues as global minimum tax, carbon emission reduction and environmental protection, and its support in seeking resources for joint projects.

Sơn used this occasion to urge the OECD to help Việt Nam successfully co-chair the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP), firstly the organisation of the second OECD-Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum in October 2023.

For his part, Cormann highly appreciated Sơn’s attendance at the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting 2023 and considered this as a demonstration of Việt Nam’s role and active contributions as a Co-chair of the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Programme.

The OECD Secretary-General said OECD is ready to send experts to help Việt Nam implement the regulations related to the global minimum corporate income tax.

He agreed to coordinate with the country to properly prepare for the second OECD-Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum, which will be held in Hà Nội in October at the initiative of Việt Nam. — VNS