Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm meets with Mayor of the French city Édouard Philippe on Sunday (local time). VNA/VNS Photo Trí Dũng

LE HAVRE — Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm visited Le Havre and had a meeting with Mayor of the French city Édouard Philippe on Sunday (local time), within the framework of his official visit to France.

Congratulating the city's leaders and people on their achievements in building Le Havre into one of the important gateways for the world's maritime trade, Lâm recalled that Le Havre is also a place that bears the mark of late President Hồ Chí Minh's revolutionary life and is a vivid symbol of bilateral friendship between the two countries, and a precious heritage that demonstrates the close historical connection between Việt Nam and France.

Lâm appreciated positive contributions of Philippe, who served as French Prime Minister from May 2017 to July 2020, to the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

He showed his delight at the development of cooperation between Le Havre and Việt Nam’s central city of Đà Nẵng, thus contributing to strengthening and expanding the French city’s collaboration with Vietnamese localities in areas such as people-to-people exchange, seaport development, logistics and maritime transport, marine environmental protection, and maritime technology.

The Mayor of Le Havre expressed his special affection for the country and people of Việt Nam, and his deep admiration for President Hồ Chí Minh. He recalled good memories of his visits to Việt Nam, particularly the country's dynamism and rapid development, and wished to promote cooperation between Le Havre and Vietnamese localities in training high quality human resources, encouraging French businesses to promote investment in Việt Nam, especially in the city's strong areas.

As President of the International Association of Cities and Ports (IACP), Philippe affirmed he will support connecting Việt Nam’s ports with the world port system.

Lâm and Philippe emphasised that the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea) is the world's lifeline for goods transportation and the importance of ensuring peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

Mayor Philippe visited Việt Nam several times, with the latest ones in November 2018 as the prime minister of France, and in February 2023 as the mayor of Le Havre. — VNS