Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez meet on the sidelines of the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3). VNA/VNS Photo

NICE – Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez had a meeting on the sidelines of the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC 3) in Nice, France, on June 9 (local time).

PM Chính emphasised that Việt Nam attaches great importance to and wishes to further promote multifaceted cooperation with Spain, the first strategic partner of Việt Nam in the European Union (EU).

The two leaders discussed ways to further concretise the results of PM Sanchez's visit to Việt Nam in April, thereby bringing the Việt Nam-Spain strategic partnership into a deeper, more practical and effective manner.

They affirmed that economy, trade and investment are among the key pillars in the Việt Nam - Spain Strategic Partnership.

They agreed to effectively implement the Việt Nam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the recently signed Protocol on bilateral financial cooperation.

Both sides committed to soon convening the first session of the Joint Committee on Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation in 2025, with a view to fully tapping the potential and complementarity of the two economies, striving to raise bilateral trade to over US$8 billion in the near future.

The Vietnamese PM called on Spain to support the European Parliament’s early ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), as well as to advocate the European Commission’s removal of its “yellow card” warming on Vietnamese seafood.

He suggested the two sides continue to open their doors to each other in order to diversify markets, products and supply chains, thereby reducing reliance on any single market.

He said that Việt Nam wants to send a working delegation to Spain to learn from experience and strengthen cooperation in developing the railway industry, while wishing Spain cooperate in transferring technology and training human resources in this field.

PM Sanchez, for his part, agreed with PM Chính's remarks, saying that enhancing solidarity and cooperation between countries is very important in the current context. He affirmed Spain’s desire to further strengthen bilateral relations with Việt Nam.

As the nation with the second longest high-speed railway system in the world, Spain stands ready to cooperate and share its expertise with Việt Nam in this field, and looks forwards to welcoming the Vietnamese working delegation. At the same time, Spain supports Việt Nam in further strengthening its partnership and comprehensive cooperation with the EU, and in harnessing the great potential of the EVFTA, he added.

The Spanish PM invited PM Chính to attend the upcoming 4th High-Level Conference on Finance for Development (FfD) hosted by Spain to continue discussing potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.

On this occasion, the two leaders discussed ways to promote the UN agenda on sustainable development, marine biodiversity conservation, governance and security.

They reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and freedom of navigation and overflight in seas, including the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea), on the basis of respecting the interests of coastal states in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). VNS