Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính speaks with his German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the phone on Tuesday. VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính yesterday asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel to support trade cooperation between Việt Nam and Germany during a phone conversation with his European counterpart.

The Vietnamese PM asked Merkel to facilitate Việt Nam's seafood and agricultural exports to Germany, especially seasonal fruit exports.

He also expressed his hope that the European Commission would soon complete the ratification of the EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

The Vietnamese PM said Việt Nam always valued the strategic partnership with Germany and hoped to deepen the cooperation and trust between the two countries in many aspects.

He congratulated Merkel on Germany’s achievements in controlling COVID-19 and said he highly valued the European country’s contribution as the biggest sponsor for the COVAX initiative.

He asked that Germany create favourable conditions for Việt Nam to access COVID-19 vaccines and consider transferring COVID-19 vaccine production technology to Southeast Asian countries.

He also thanked the people of Germany for the one million test kits they presented to the Vietnamese Government recently.

German Chancellor Merkel said she highly valued the cooperation and support between the two countries in fighting COVID-19 and agreed to further collaborate with Việt Nam on this matter.

She also agreed with PM Chính that the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) would be crucial to promoting economic and strategic cooperation between the two countries.

She added that German enterprises were very interested in doing business in Việt Nam, especially in the fields of renewable energy, infrastructure development, and industrial manufacturing.

The two sides agreed to continue to work together to solve problems in the disbursement of Germany’s official development assistance (ODA) in Việt Nam and facilitate development projects.

The two leaders also said the two countries would continue to support each other at international forums, especially those that facilitate the ASEAN–EU relations.

They both emphasised the need to maintain security and peace in the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea), which includes taking actions such as promoting the role of international law and considering the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982) as the legal framework that governs all maritime activities.

They agreed to encourage concerned parties to fully observe the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and work towards an effective and susbtantial code of conduct (COC) in line with international law and UNCLOS 1982.— VNS