President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. VNA/VNS photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.

Macron congratulated Phúc on his new position and appreciated steps to tighten the strategic partnership between France and Việt Nam, especially the official visit to France in 2018 of General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng.

He emphasised the close attachment between the people of the two countries and affirmed the policy of France to closely coordinate with Việt Nam to further develop the relationship between the countries.

President Phúc thanked the French President for his good wishes and expressed his satisfaction with the good developments in Việt Nam-France relations in recent years.

The President affirmed that France is one of the leading partners of Việt Nam in Europe and wished the two countries continue to work closely together towards the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10 years of establishment of strategic partnership in 2023.

The two leaders exchanged specific measures to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries. They agreed that ministries and branches of the two countries should continue efforts to promote cooperation, especially maintaining the mechanism of exchange to promote important projects. Priority will be given to COVID-19 prevention, security-defence, economics-trade-investment, energy, transportation, aerospace, environment, culture, education-training as well as cooperation between localities, towards the Conference on Cooperation between Việt Nam and France which is expected to take place in Hà Nội at the end of next year.

President Phúc thanked France for its positive support to the development of relations between Việt Nam and the European Union (EU), especially the promotion of the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). He said he hoped that the French National Assembly would soon complete the ratification of the Vietnam - EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation between Việt Nam and the EU in general and with France in particular. Phúc also suggested the two sides jointly create favourable conditions for French and Vietnamese businesses to strengthen investment cooperation.

President Macron expressed his appreciation of the role of Việt Nam in the region and internationally, especially the success of ASEAN Presidency and the role of non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council at present.

The two leaders emphasised that the two countries should continue to work closely at multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations, Asia-Europe Meeting and promote cooperation between France and ASEAN, especially after France becomes ASEAN's Development Partner in 2020. -- VNS