PM meets country leaders on side-lines of G20 Summit

Meeting Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the PM asked Indonesia to deal with fishery issues in a humanitarian spirit, in line with their strategic bilateral partnership. He suggested accelerating the conclusion of negotiations on demarcation of exclusive economic zones between the two countries.

Widodo, for his part, expressed his support for Vietnam's successful hosting of APEC Year 2017 and agreed with the Vietnamese PM's suggestions.

In another meeting with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, the Vietnamese PM urged India to gradually clear trade barriers, with the aim of incresing two-way trade to US$15 billion by 2020.

The Vietnamese government is ready to offer all possible support for Indian firms to conduct business in Vietnam, he said, adding that Vietnam backs the "Act East" policy of India and will continue to further strengthen the ASEAN-India strategic partnership.

Modi vowed to increase the exchange of visits across all levels on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership. He spoke highly of Vietnam's coordinating role in the ASEAN-India ties and described Vietnam as an important pillar in India's "Act East" policy.

Talking with President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker, the government leader asked the European Union to complete the legal review as soon as possible, to sign the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and provide technical support for Vietnam to effectively realise the deal.

He expressed his wish that the EU would continue with specific projects to help Vietnam deliver it's commitments in the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The EU leaders highly value Vietnam's role in Southeast Asia and ASEAN and agreed to accelerate the legal review for the signing of the EVFTA.

On the East Sea issue, leaders from Indonesia, India and the EU agreed with Vietnam's stance on the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom in the East Sea, and settling disputes by peaceful means in line with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

At a meeting with Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the PM expressed his wish for further bilateral cooperation in order to fulfil the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The WHO Director General lauded Vietnam as one of the successful examples in health care.

On the occasion, the Vietnamese leader also met Chinese President, US President, and his counterparts from Australia, the Republic of Korea, Canada, among others.

In his speech to the G20 Summit session on July 8, PM Phuc hailed the event for discussing the issues of employment and women's empowerment amid the fourth industrial revolution.

He urged G20 to build a new global framework on further liberalisation of cyber infrastructure development, information technology and digital application, as well as opening a global forum on start-ups in order to share information and experiences.

The PM also informed the leaders that Vietnam will also hold the APEC High-Level Policy Dialogue on women and economy in September 2017, to facilitate Vietnamese women's access to business opportunities and contribute to the digital economy.

During the visit to Germany from July 5-8, the PM held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the German Federal Council and Minister-President of Rheinland-Pfalz state Malu Dreyer.

He also met several federal and local leaders and co-chaired the Vietnam-Germany Business Forum.

As a speaker at the G20 Summit discussion on sustainable development, climate change, and energy, Phuc said Vietnam has pushed forward the 2017 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)'s agenda for sustainable development, climate change response and efficient energy use.

(Source: NDO)