Vice President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân (left) meets Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus in Oslo on Thursday. VNA/VNS Photo An Đăng

OSLO – Vice President Võ Thị Ánh Xuân had a meeting with Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus in Oslo on Thursday (local time) as part of her ongoing visit to the northern European country.

Highlighting the growth of the Việt Nam-Norway relations in all fields, Vice President Xuân said that the two sides should maintain high-level visits to strengthen political trust and enhance the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation.

She proposed that the two sides should build legal frameworks to create foundation for bilateral relations, while expanding collaboration in new areas such as culture, education-training, science-technology and people-to-people exchange, and strengthening coordination and mutual support at regional and international forums.   

The Vietnamese Vice President said she hoped Norway would help speed up the negotiation for a free trade agreement between Việt Nam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and support Việt Nam to implement its commitment within the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

Crown Prince Haakon Magnus recalled his strong impression when seeing the great changes in Việt Nam during a visit to the country in 2014, and said that Việt Nam is an important partner of Norway.

He showed concern about the impacts of climate change on the Mekong Delta and pledged that the Royal Family and the Government of Norway would continue to support Việt Nam in responding to climate change, promoting green transition and developing renewable energy.

The Crown Prince highly valued Việt Nam’s commitments made at international forums on green transition, especially the net-zero emission commitment by 2050. He pledged that Norway would cooperate with and support Việt Nam in realising these commitments.

On the occasion, Vice President Xuân extended President Võ Văn Thưởng’s invitation to King Harald V to visit Việt Nam, and invited the Crown Prince and Princess to visit Việt Nam again in 2024.  

The same day, Xuân held talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store to discuss cooperation orientations and measures to bolster and deepen the friendship and partnership between Việt Nam and Norway.

The Norwegian PM said that the Vietnamese Vice President’s visit reflected the strong commitment of the two countries to promoting bilateral ties. He said he was impressed by Việt Nam’s achievements in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those on poverty reduction and gender equality. PM Store congratulated Việt Nam on its election to the UN Human Rights Council for the second time, and expressed hope to cooperate closely in this field.     

Xuân affirmed that Việt Nam highly valued the effective and precious support that the Government and people of Norway had given to Việt Nam over the years, helping Việt Nam promote socio-economic development and complete Millennium Development Goals.

The two sides agreed on the need to maintain the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high level, and consider the possibility of establishing a strategic partnership framework in areas matching each other’s strengths and demands. They concurred to continue supporting each other at multilateral forums and in settling global challenges.

Regarding economic cooperation, the two sides noted the progress in bilateral trade and investment partnership, with Việt Nam becoming the second largest trade partner of Norway among ASEAN member countries.

The two sides agreed to support and encourage Norwegian businesses to increase investment in Việt Nam, and coordinate with each other in promoting the negotiation of the FTA between Việt Nam and the EFTA, thus opening up new economic cooperation opportunities between the two sides and benefiting enterprises of the two countries.

They vowed to strengthen collaboration within the JETP framework through support in finance, technology transfer, human resources development and institution-building experience sharing.

The Norwegian PM expressed his hope to form strategic cooperation mechanisms in specific areas such as green transition, circular economy and green economy.      

The two leaders agreed on the necessity to expand cooperation in the fields of education-training, science-technology, social welfare, climate change, security, defence, and people-to-people exchange.

PM Store affirmed that the Norwegian Government would continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country.

Regarding international and regional issues, the two leaders agreed that the two sides would continue to work closely with each other at regional and international forums, especially the UN and the ASEAN-EU cooperation framework, contributing to maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world on the basis of respect for international law and fundamental principles of the UN Charter.

Vice President Xuân conveyed Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính’s invitation to PM Store to visit Việt Nam.

Also on Thursday, Vice President Xuân had a meeting with President of the Norwegian Parliament Masud Gharahkhani who hailed Việt Nam’s positive engagement in dealing with global challenges, especially those in climate change with the commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Xuân proposed that the Norwegian Parliament support the establishment of legal frameworks facilitating bilateral cooperation in areas matching each other’s strengths and demands, such as green transition, climate change and circular economy.

The Vietnamese Vice President said she hoped Norway would help speed up the signing of an FTA between Việt Nam and the EFTA, and provide Việt Nam with financial resources and institution-building experience, and human resources training support to realise the country’s international commitments, especially those made at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and within the JETP framework.

The Norwegian parliament leader agreed with Xuân on the need to beef up cooperation to optimise each other’s advantages and potential, saying that the Norwegian Parliament supported collaboration with Việt Nam in green transition and creates favourable conditions for Norwegian firms to strengthen partnerships with Vietnamese peers.

The legislatures of Việt Nam and Norway should strengthen the exchange of delegations and experience in building policies and laws to deal with challenges in socio-economic development in each country, he said.  

On the occasion, Vice President Xuân conveyed an invitation from Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ to the Norwegian Parliament President to visit Việt Nam.

Earlier the same day, Vice President Xuân received Norwegian Minister of Culture and Equality Lubna Jaffery who underlined that Norway and Viet Nam shared the same commitment to promoting gender equality.

The minister expressed hope that the two countries would strengthen cooperation in this field and continue to effectively coordinate with each other in this area at multilateral forums, especially the UN. VNS