HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Friday afternoon held a phone conversation with the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s President Moon Jae-in to discuss COVID-19 prevention and control in each country and bilateral cooperation in this field.

PM Phúc informed the RoK President about Việt Nam’s drastic measures against COVID-19 and positive results achieved with no deaths so far. The Vietnamese Government was continuing its efforts amid the developments of the pandemic around the world, while striving to promote economic development, address social issues, and protect safety and health of Vietnamese people and foreign citizens in the country, he said.

The Vietnamese Government leader spoke highly of the RoK Government's disease control measures and suggested the two governments coordinate closely, share experience and support each other in the prevention and control of the epidemic, as well as provide assistance for the Vietnamese community in the RoK to help them stabilise their lives and have full necessary conditions to prevent and fight the disease.

President Moon Jae-in said that his country had overcome many difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the President, as now is not a safe time yet, the RoK Government continues to implement a number of measures such as social distancing.

Noting Việt Nam’s good control of the epidemic was praised by the international community, he affirmed that the RoK Government was willing to exchange experience and coordinate with Việt Nam in disease prevention and control, and citizen protection. He thanked the Government of Việt Nam for supporting RoK citizens and enterprises doing business in Việt Nam, especially in enabling South Koreans to enter the country for major business activities.

The two leaders agreed on the need to strengthen international cooperation to prevent and control the pandemic. Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc stressed Việt Nam’s international cooperation efforts, affirming that as the ASEAN 2020 Chair, Việt Nam had been hosting discussions on strengthening COVID-19 prevention and control coordination among ASEAN countries and between ASEAN and its partner countries, including those in the ASEAN+3 mechanism (China, Japan and the RoK).

President Moon Jae-in said he supported Việt Nam’s efforts and initiatives and affirmed that as the coordinator of the ASEAN+3 mechanism, the RoK would work closely with Việt Nam to successfully promote ASEAN's dialogue and cooperation mechanisms, including ASEAN-Korea and ASEAN+3.

The two sides exchanged views on bilateral cooperation and expressed satisfaction about the effective cooperation between the two countries. They agreed to deepen the bilateral relations in the future, including maintaining the exchange of high-level delegations and boosting cooperation in economy and other fields immediately after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yesterday, PM Phúc also had talks with his Chinese counterpart Premier Li Keqiang over cooperation to deal with COVID-19 and pledged to resume trade and exchange activities once the pandemic is over. — VNS