Review on external affairs from Oct.17-23: UN Secretary-General’s visit to Vietnam; promoting ties with Singapore, Korea.

Leaders’ activities

On October 23, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong extended congratulations to Chinese Party General Secretary Xi Jinping on his re-election as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said that he always attaches great importance to and is willing, together with the Chinese leader, to direct all levels, branches and localities of the two countries to thoroughly understand and well implement the high-level agreements and common perceptions, thus bringing the friendly neighbourliness and comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China to a new height that is stable, healthy and sustainable, meeting the fundamental and long-term interests of the two parties, countries and peoples, for peace, stability, cooperation and development of the region and the world.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong receives UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on October 21, 2022. (Photo: VNA)

On October 23, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres left Hanoi, concluding his official visit to Vietnam from October 21-22. During the stay in Vietnam, the UN Secretary-General had many important activities, including laying a wreath at and visiting Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, paying a courtesy visit to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, having talks with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and meetings with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue respectively; co-chairing the ceremony to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Vietnam's membership of the United Nations; having dialogue with Vietnamese youth and students at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and visiting Green One United Nations Building. While in Hanoi, UN Secretary-General Guterres visited Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (The Temple of Literature), the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long and Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple.

From October 16-20, during the state visit to Vietnam, Singapore President Halimah Yacob and her Spouse held talks with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc; had meetings with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue respectively.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosts welcoming ceremony for Singapore President Halimah Yacob during the state visit to Vietnam on October 17, 2022. (Photo: WVR/Nguyen Hong)

On October 18, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin for an official visit to Vietnam. The Vietnamese leader suggested that the two sides further promote and substantively, effectively implement the Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreements and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

On October 17, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a message of congratulations to Abdul Latif Rashid on his election as President of Iraq.

On October 18, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held phone talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss meaures to boost relations between the two countries, especially in economy, trade and investment. The two Prime Ministers valued the maintenance of high-level delegation exchanges and meetings, including the upcoming official visit to Australia by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue. On this occasion, Prime Minister Chinh invited his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese to pay an official visit Vietnam.

On October 18, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Mathias Cormann, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on the occasion of attending the OECD Southeast Asia Program 2022 in Hanoi. The Prime Minister stressed that Vietnam highly values the OECD’s cooperation and policy consultations as OECD’s problem-solving approach is suitable for Vietnam.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann. (Photo: VNA)

On October 17, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Australian Senator, Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Manufacturing Tim Ayres, who was in Vietnam to co-chair the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum 2022.

On the same day October 17, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Minister-President of the Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles Pierre-Yves Jeholet, who was on a visit to Vietnam from October 15-21. Prime Minister Chinh expressed his hope that the visit will contribute to promoting cooperation between Vietnam and Belgium and Wallonie-Bruxelles in different spheres.

On October 22, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent a message of congratulations to Giorgia Meloni on her taking office as Prime Minister of Italy. On the same occasion, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue extended his congratulations to Ignazio La Russa and Lorenzo Fontana on their elections as President of the Italian Senate and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy, respectively. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son congratulated Antonio Tajani on his taking office as Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

On October 21, at the National Assembly House, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue received Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lao National Assembly Sanya Praseuth and Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Information and Communication of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia Sous Yara on the occasion of attending a consultation meeting between three Foreign Affairs Committees of the National Assembly of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (CLV).

From October 17-19, at the invitation of Vice President, Head of the Standing Committee of the CPP Standing Committee, President of the Cambodian Senate Say Chhum, Vo Van Thuong, Politburo Member and permanent member of the Secretariat of CPV Central Committee, led the high-ranking Party delegation paid an official visit to Cambodia.

On October 17, addressing the opening ceremony of the OECD Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum 2022, Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh suggested intensifying supply chain cooperation between the two sides in a stable, sustainable and fair way, and utilising the existing economic networks, especially the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and free trade agreements between Southeast Asia and the OECD.

Activities of the Foreign Affairs Minister

On October 21, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son hosted a reception for Secretary General of Foreign Policy of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alex Wetzig Abdale, who was on an official visit to Vietnam to co-chair the 7th political consultation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs. The Minister expressed his delight at the practical development of the Vietnam-Chile traditional friendship and comprehensive partnership in the recent past despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

On October 19, Minister Bui Thanh Son received UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Ramla Al Khalidi to present her letter of credentials. At the reception, Foreign Minister Son suggested that the UN body continue to offer its support in terms of resources, policy advice, and experience sharing to Vietnam to implement its industrialisation and modernisation, and the 2021-2030 socio-economic development strategy.

On October 19, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son sent a message of congratulations to Tobias Billström on his appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden.

On October 18, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and Republic of Korea (RoK)’ s Foreign Minister Park Jin held talks, agreeing to take many measures for further developing bilateral cooperation. Foreign Minister Son said that the visit holds great importance amid the 30th anniversary of the countries’ diplomatic ties this year.

On October 18, at the Headquarters of the Ministry, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son welcomed and held talks with Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin. (Photo: WVR/Tuan Anh)

On October 18, receiving OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann, Minister Bui Thanh Son thanked the close cooperation of the OECD and the Secretary-General personally for making important contributions to the success of the OECD Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum and the OECD- Vietnam High-Level Economic Forum in 2022.

On October 17, receiving Australian Senator, Assistant Minister in charge of Trade and Manufacturing Tim Ayres, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son suggested the two sides continue effectively implement the Memorandum of Understanding on enhancing cooperation between Vietnam and the OECD, focusing on areas such as digital transformation, green growth, institutional improvement, human resource quality improvement, etc.

Bilateral activities

On October 19, meeting with Mr. Watanabe Tetsuya, Special Advisor to the Minister of Economy, Industry and Trade (METI) of Japan, Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang suggested that the METI Ministry pay attention to promoting projects. Vietnam-Japan cooperation under the ASEAN-Japan Future Investment Initiative, as well as Vietnam-Japan cooperation projects under the AETI initiative on carbon reduction and neutrality.

On October 17, Assistant Secretary Nguyen Minh Hang received US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in charge of Economic and Business Affairs Whitney Baird on the occasion of her leading the US Government delegation to attend the OECD Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum in Hanoi.

On October 17, Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu attended and spoke at the 25th Anniversary of the Wallonie-Bruxelles Delegation to Vietnam (1996-2021) at the Hanoi Opera House. In the framework of the celebration, the artists of the Youth Theater performed the play The Blue Bird (L'Oiseau bleu) - a mythical play based on a script by the Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck written in 1909.

Multilateral activities

On October 21, the Vietnamese Mission to the United Nations welcomed and discussed Vietnam's contributions and priorities at the UN with a group of students from the US Army School.

On October 20, in New York, the International Labor Organization (ILO) coordinated with the Group of Friends of Decent Work for Sustainable Development to organize an event on ensuring human and labor rights in social development. Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Tra, Chargé d'affaires of Vietnam to the UN, shares Vietnam's experience in ensuring workers’ rights. Ambassador Tra underscored the important role of harmonising national legislation with international labour standards, highlighted progress Vietnam has made in the field, including the joining of more ILO conventions and the adoption of the revised Labour Code in 2019 with many new contents matching international labour standards. The diplomat stressed that suitable harmonisation will help improve working conditions, protect workers' rights, and promote effective economic cooperation among countries.

Vietnam shares experience in ensuring workers’ rights: Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Tra, Chargé d'affaires of the Vietnamese Delegation to the United Nations (UN) at the meeting. (Photo: Vu Hieu/Vietnam+)

On October 19, speaking at a working lunch meeting with Ambassador Robert O'Brien, President of Law firm American Global Strategies, former US National Security Advisor, in the capacity of ACW Chairman, Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dung shared ASEAN's common desire to further promote ASEAN-US relations, and welcomed the United States' continued engagement with the region, ensuring ASEAN's central role in the region.

In an interview with The World and Vietnam Report about the official visit to Vietnam by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Head of the Vietnamese Mission to the UN, highlighted the strong and meaningful message of the important event. UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Ms. Pauline Tamesis also revealed to The World and Vietnam Report the priorities of the visit.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson

On October 20, at the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang informed on the difficult situation of Vietnamese workers in Congo; the protection of citizens in Ukraine; efforts to rescue Vietnamese workers in Cambodia and the negotiation process on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea at the 37th meeting of the ASEAN-China Joint Working Group.

Other activities

On October 18, within the framework of the OECD-Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum 2022, the 10th Senior Officials Meeting of the Southeast Asia Regional Program (SEARP) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) took place in person and online in Hanoi and Paris. Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Hang and Ambassador, Head of the Australian Delegation to the OECD Brendan Pearson co-chaired the meeting.