Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (r) receives President Hilda Heine of Marshall. – Photo VGP

ĐÀ NẴNG – Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc held meetings with leaders of the South Pacific countries of Nauru and Marshall as well as South America’s Guyana on the sidelines of the sixth Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in central Đà Nẵng yesterday.

At a meeting with President Baron Waqa of Nauru, PM Phúc proposed an increase of exchanges in promising areas such aquaculture, fisheries, agriculture, tourism and mining. He said Việt Nam would welcome delegations from Nauru to exchange experience in rice cultivation, developing industrial trees, aquatic farming and telecommunications.

Stressing the East Sea issue as being of common interest for all countries in the region, the PM said that the international community, including ASEAN and Việt Nam, wished to settle disputes through peaceful measures in line with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, as well as the maintenance of peace, stability and maritime and aviation security and safety in the East Sea.

He asked Nauru to support ASEAN and Việt Nam’s efforts and stance on the matter. For his part, President Baron Waqa said that Việt Nam was an emerging economy with high potential and expressed his hope that Việt Nam would play an active role in the Asia-Pacific region in the future.

Regarding fisheries, he expressed his wish for Việt Nam’s support to prevent illegal fishing, which has a direct effact on livelihoods and marine protection for island countries like Nauru.

Nauru also wished to cooperate with Việt Nam to fight human trafficking and cross-border crime.

At a meeting with President Hilda Heine of Marshall, PM Phúc said the two sides should consider signing a number of framework cooperation agreements to create a legal framework for bilateral cooperation, while sharing information and co-ordinating on regional issues of shared concern, he said.

Heine said she hoped Việt Nam would share experience in its areas of strength such as agriculture and rural development, fishing and aquatic farming, and developing and processing products from industrial crops, while strengthening collaboration to deal with regional challenges, including climate change and natural disaster relief.

Meeting Guyana’s President David Granger, PM Phúc underscored that Việt Nam wanted to boost friendship and cooperation with Guyana, proposing that the two sides increase delegation exchanges and foster collaboration in areas of both sides’ strengths, thus reinforcing trust and mutual understanding.

Granger agreed that the two sides should promote cooperation in information technology and infrastructure, while helping businesses connect and study each other’s market to raise two-way trade and investment. — VNS