New York (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son had meetings with the foreign ministers of Cuba, Latvia, and Uzbekistan and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar in New York on September 22, on the sidelines of the UN Summit of the Future and the high-level general debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 79).
Talking to Cuban FM Bruno Rodriguez, Son thanked the Cuban Party, State, and people for extending sympathies to Vietnam on the aftermath of Typhoon Yagi as well as the passing of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
Vietnam always treasures and wishes to keep nurturing the special ties with Cuba, he remarked, noting that the coming state visit to the Caribbean nation by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam will set a new milestone for the comradeship, fraternity, and all-round cooperation between the two countries.
Vietnam is ready to expand collaboration in such fields as health care, pharmaceutical, tourism, agriculture, energy, and construction and share its experiences in the areas matching Cuba’s demand, the Deputy PM said.
Expressing his country’s willingness to help Vietnam settle disaster consequences, Rodriguez highlighted the special solidarity, friendship, and fraternity between the Cuban and Vietnamese peoples, and that the Cuban Party, State, and people are looking forwards to the state visit by General Secretary and President To Lam.
The two officials agreed that Vietnam and Cuba will coordinate closely to fruitfully carry out high-level agreements and bring into play bilateral dialogue and cooperation mechanisms, including the two foreign ministries’ political consultation, the Inter-governmental Committee, the defence dialogue, and the two Parties’ cooperation mechanisms.
The countries will also step up parliamentary, locality-to-locality, and people-to-people ties while effectively organising activities in celebration of the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025, they added.
Meeting with Latvian FM Baiba Braze, Son emphasised that Vietnam always attaches importance to and hopes to enhance the traditional friendship and sound cooperation with Latvia.
He appreciated Latvia’s support for Vietnam’s candidacy for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council in the 2023 - 2025 tenure, asking the European country to continue advocating Vietnam’s efforts to run for membership of other UN mechanisms in the coming time.
The Deputy PM also called on Latvia to help promote the nine remaining EU members’ ratification of the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), as well as the European Commission’s removal of the “yellow card” warning over illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing for Vietnamese seafood exports.
Braze affirmed her country’s support for the EU remainders’ early ratification and implementation of the EVIPA to help generate practical benefits for the two countries’ economic, trade, and investment links.
The two sides agreed to work together to foster partnerships in economy, trade, education - training and, especially, such new areas as digital transformation and green transition. Cultural and arts activities will be held to help deepen mutual understanding between the two peoples. The countries will also consider renewing the memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the two foreign ministries.
At the meeting with Uzbek FM Bakhtiyor Saidov, the Vietnamese Deputy PM and FM thanked the Uzbek President and people for sending sympathies and encouragement to the Vietnamese people following Typhoon Yagi.
Vietnam always attaches importance to the friendship and multifaceted ties with Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, Son went on, noting with satisfaction the progress in bilateral relations as seen in many bilateral meetings at various levels.
Saidov said Vietnam is one of the leading partners of Uzbekistan in Southeast Asia, and that his country hopes to foster bilateral partnerships in all aspects, especially economy, trade, investment, energy, oil and gas, agriculture, and education, in a result-oriented manner.
The two countries will work closely to bolster bilateral cooperation in the fields matching their potential by arranging all-level mutual visits and soon holding the 8th session of the Inter-governmental Committee on economic - trade and scientific - technical cooperation, according to the officials.
Receiving the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar Julie Bishop, Son congratulated Bishop and said he believes she will excellently fulfil her duty on the new position.
He affirmed Vietnam’s readiness to cooperate with and support the role and efforts of the Special Envoy in seeking a durable peaceful solution for the sake of the Myanmar people, as well as regional peace and stability.
Vietnam always hopes that the Myanmar situation will be stabilised soon, and it will actively discuss with the related partners and parties to promote self-restraint, dialogue, reconciliation, along with the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Deputy PM continued.
He also underlined the necessity for prioritising the settlement of socio-economic difficulties and the humanitarian issue through the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management.
Bishop affirmed the attention to and support for ASEAN’s centrality and efforts in seeking a solution to the Myanmar issue.
She also highly valued Vietnam’s active engagement and shared some priorities to be carried out in the time ahead to secure a solution to this issue./.
