President holds meetings with foreign leaders in UK
VGP - President Vo Van Thuong engaged in bilateral meetings with foreign leaders in London, the United Kingdom (UK) on May 5 on the occasion of his visit to the UK to attend the Coronation of King Charles III.
President Vo Van Thuong (R) meets Singaporean counterpart Halimah Yacob, London, the United Kingdom, May 5, 2023 - Photo: VNA
At the meeting with Singaporean counterpart Halimah Yacob, Vo expressed his delight on the fruitful development in the bilateral relations, noting that this year both sides celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties and 10th anniversary of the establishment of strategic partnership.
The two nations should take concrete measures to bring their relations to a new height, including maintaining delegation exchanges at all levels and promoting cooperation in trade, investment, education-training, tourism and people-to-people links, he proposed.
Viet Nam and Singapore established their partnership in digital economy–green economy, moving to a new stage of development, the Vietnamese State leader stated.
For her part, Halimah Yacob expressed her hope that the two sides will boost close coordination via successful foundations such as the Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) and new cooperation sectors consisting of renewable energy, digital transformation and carbon credits.
Both leaders reiterated the importance of building a united and resilient ASEAN Community and upholding the centrality of the bloc in the evolving regional architecture as well as nourishing a peaceful and sustainable environment.
They emphasized the need to address disputes via peaceful measures, fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon complete the negotiations of an efficient, effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).
President Vo Van Thuong (R) meets Secretary of State for Foreign James Cleverly, London, the United Kingdom, May 5, 2023 - Photo: VNA
The same day, Vo also had meetings with British Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Nigel Evans, Secretary of State for Foreign James Cleverly, and Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace.
At these meetings, both sides expected to expand and deepen Viet Nam-UK relations in potential areas such as security-defense, green economy, climate change adaption and renewable energy.
They pledged to enhance close coordination and mutual support within the multilateral frameworks such as the UK-ASEAN, UN, UN Human Rights Council in the 2023-2025 period and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Vo suggested the UK actively assist Viet Nam in fields of finance, technology and capacity building within the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) framework, contributing to realizing strong commitments of Viet Nam made at the COP26.
Leaders from the British Government and parliament affirmed their advocacy for the principled stance of Viet Nam and ASEAN on the East Sea issue, for settlement of disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law and the UNCLOS 1982 and for the negotiation process of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) between ASEAN and China./.
