Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Hoài Trung (left) meets with Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar Rivera. Photo: baoquocte.vn

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Hoài Trung has held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Brunei, Slovenia, Germany, Costa Rica and Maldives in New York on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly

At his meeting with Brunei’s Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Mateen, the latter spoke highly of Việt Nam’s socio-economic development in recent years, saying the two countries still have considerable room for cooperation in various fields.

He proposed that the two sides continue promoting cooperation in trade, oil and gas, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, while exploring potential areas such as agriculture, education and fisheries.

Trung shared this view and proposed that the two sides increase exchanges and contacts at all levels, particularly high-level ones, and continue close coordination in implementing the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Việt Nam-Brunei Comprehensive Partnership for 2023-2027. He called for further cooperation in the Halal industry, including the early signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation.

On regional and international issues of shared concern, the two ministers agreed to continue working together to uphold and promote ASEAN centrality in the region and the UN’s role in global governance.

At his meeting with Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia Tone Kajzer, Trung affirmed that Việt Nam attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen cooperation with Slovenia, expressing appreciation for Slovenia’s past support for Việt Nam and its efforts to promote fruitful multifaceted cooperation today.

Trung proposed increasing exchanges of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level ones, and promoting political consultations between the two foreign ministries at an early date. He called on Slovenia to soon ratify the EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and promote cooperation with Koper Port to facilitate the transport of Vietnamese goods to the Balkans, the Middle East and Southern Africa.

The Slovenian minister affirmed his country’s desire to promote multifaceted cooperation with Việt Nam. He proposed that the two countries explore expanded cooperation in areas where they have strengths and mutual interests, such as artificial intelligence, digital transformation and renewable energy. He suggested greater bilateral trade and investment and for creating favourable conditions for businesses from both countries to access each other’s markets.

On regional and international issues of shared concern, the two ministers agreed to continue close coordination and support each other’s candidacies at international forums, including the UN, while backing the principles of respect for international law and peaceful settlement of disputes.

At his meeting with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, the two ministers expressed their pleasure at the positive developments in the friendship and good cooperation between Việt Nam and Germany. They noted that Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng’s phone talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in August had provided important orientations for bilateral ties in the period ahead.

Wadephul spoke highly of Việt Nam’s socio-economic development achievements and its increasingly prominent international standing in the region and the world. He affirmed Germany’s desire to promote multifaceted cooperation with Việt Nam, viewing Việt Nam as an important bridge for Germany to strengthen cooperation with Southeast Asia. The German minister proposed that the two countries explore expanded cooperation in areas of mutual strengths and interests.

Against this backdrop, the Vietnamese FM Trung also proposed increasing exchanges of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level ones, to strengthen political trust and make bilateral cooperation more substantive. He welcomed Germany’s signing of the EVIPA and called on the two sides to work together to raise bilateral trade to US$20 billion, encourage German businesses to invest in Việt Nam, develop joint projects in high technology, renewable energy and strategic infrastructure, and cooperate in expert training.

On regional and international issues of shared concern, the two ministers agreed to continue close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, particularly the UN.

Trung also had a meeting with Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar Rivera. The two ministers expressed their pleasure at the positive developments in the friendship and good cooperation between Việt Nam and Costa Rica following the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (April 24, 1976 - 2026).

Rivera spoke highly of Việt Nam’s socio-economic development achievements and its increasingly prominent international standing in the region and the world. He affirmed Costa Rica’s desire to promote multifaceted cooperation with Việt Nam, viewing Việt Nam as an important bridge for Costa Rica to strengthen cooperation with Southeast Asia and ASEAN. He proposed that the two countries explore expanded cooperation in areas of mutual strengths and interests, including climate change response, sustainable development, high-tech agriculture, renewable energy and ecotourism.

Trung said that Việt Nam always attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen comprehensive cooperation with traditional friends in Latin America, including Costa Rica. He welcomed the Costa Rican Honorary Consulate Office, which began operations in HCM City in 2025.

He proposed increasing exchanges of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level ones, maintaining the effectiveness of the political consultation mechanism between the two foreign ministries, and expanding bilateral trade and investment while creating favourable conditions for businesses from the two countries to access each other’s markets.

On regional and international issues of shared concern, the two ministers agreed to continue close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, particularly the UN and the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), while supporting respect for international law and multilateralism.

Trung took this occasion to invite Rivera to pay an official visit to Việt Nam at a convenient time. The Costa Rican minister accepted the invitation with pleasure and expressed his wish to return to Việt Nam soon.

At a meeting with Maldivian Foreign Minister Iruthisham Adam, with the two sides exchanging a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between their foreign ministries to promote bilateral diplomatic relations and provide orientations for the implementation of bilateral dialogue and consultation mechanisms between the two foreign ministries.

Adam hailed the positive developments in bilateral relations in recent years. He expressed a desire to promote cooperation programmes and projects, as well as exchanges and study visits to share experience in agriculture, tourism and infrastructure development.

For his part, Trung proposed increasing exchanges of delegations and contacts, as well as people-to-people exchanges. He called on the Maldivian Government to facilitate trade and investment between businesses of the two countries, promote tourism and maritime cooperation, and strengthen air connectivity.

The two ministers agreed to promote the signing of cooperation agreements in areas including trade, agriculture, construction, tourism, marine cooperation, and aquaculture and fisheries. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation on shared concerns such as responding to climate change, ensuring maritime safety, security and freedom of navigation in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and enhancing coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, especially the UN. — VNA/VNS