Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh held phone talks on Tuesday with the UK’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is now Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

Blair spoke highly of Việt Nam’s success in the COVID-19 fight and being among the few economies with positive growth in 2020.

He stressed the role of digital transformation and technology application in combating COVID-19, mentioning the possibility of working with the US’ Oracle group to carry out a digital healthcare management system in Việt Nam in response to the pandemic.

Hailing Việt Nam’s continually improved investment and business climate, Blair held that with what it has obtained in the COVID-19 fight and the entry into force of the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the country is emerging as a magnet for the global FDI flow.

He also expressed his readiness to assist Việt Nam in attracting high-quality investment.

Minh appreciated the former PM’s contributions to the two countries’ relations and provision of policy advice for Việt Nam in areas such as FDI attraction and implementation of the public-private partnership model.

Amid the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, Việt Nam will promote its cooperation with international partners in coronavirus prevention and control, especially vaccine and medicine development, production, and distribution, the Vietnamese diplomat emphasised.

Deputy PM Minh reaffirmed that attracting high-quality foreign investment and cooperating in technological development are among Việt Nam’s priorities in socio-economic development.

He voiced his hope that the two sides will enhance collaboration in attracting high-quality foreign investment, including FDI projects applying high technology, and setting up innovation and R&D centres that are connected with Vietnamese businesses via human resources training and support industry facilitation. — VNS