Secretary of the Hà Nội municipal Party Committee Hoàng Trung Hải (r) presented a Friendship Order to French Ambassador Bertrand Lortholary in recognition of his contributions to the Viet Nam-France strategic partnership during his tenure in Việt Nam from 2016-2019. — VNA/VNS Photo

PARIS — Secretary of the Hà Nội municipal Party Committee Hoàng Trung Hải has affirmed that Việt Nam always highly values France’s role and position in its foreign policy and will do its best to foster bilateral ties in the near future.

Speaking at a ceremony recently held in Paris to celebrate Việt Nam’s 74th National Day, Hải, who is also a Politburo member of the Communist Party of Việt Nam, hailed ties between Ha Noi and France’s Ile de France region as a model, which was also acknowledged by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe during his visit to Việt Nam in November 2018. 

Thanks to joint work over the past three decades, Hà Nội has reaped impressive achievements in urban planning and management, preservation of its Old Quarter and handicraft development. 

Hải said the two localities would soon launch projects on start-up incubators, air pollution prevention and climate change adaptation. 

On behalf of the State President, the Hà Nội leader presented a Friendship Order to French Ambassador Bertrand Lortholary in recognition of his contributions to the Viet Nam-France strategic partnership during his tenure in Việt Nam from 2016-2019. 

Lortholary said the year 2018 marked the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the fifth anniversary of the strategic partnership, during which mutual visits by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng in March and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in November laid the foundation for bilateral exchanges and co-operation and paved the way for effective projects. 

He said the France visit by Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân and a co-operation conference between Vietnamese and French localities in April 2019 were further efforts to lift bilateral ties to a new height. — VNS