Party chief’s West Europe trip a success

Hoang Binh Quan, member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and head of the committee’s Commission for External Relations, made the remarks in his interview granted to the reporters on the outcomes of the trip.

The visit, the first to West European nations by Trong as General Secretary of the CPV , is in line with the Party and State’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, diversification and multilateralisation of international relations, he stressed. It also affirms the country’s policy of strengthening relations with the EU and countries of importance in Europe .

The visit took place at a significant time when Vietnam and its European partners are celebrating the 40 th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties, he added.

Quan said that the European countries gave the Vietnamese delegation a warm welcome, reflecting the importance they attach to Vietnam’s role and position and the leadership of the CPV as well as their wish to boost practical and comprehensive relations with Vietnam.

All the talks and meetings took place in an open, straightforward and result-oriented manner, he noted.

The visit also offered a chance for the European partners to understand more about Vietnam and its renewal achievements and foreign policy, thus increasing understanding and winning the partners’ cooperation and support.

The official noted that during the visit, Vietnam upgraded its cooperation with Italy to a strategic partnership, while achieving agreement on measures to strengthen its strategic partnership with the UK , boosting multi-faceted ties with Belgium and deepening the cooperation with the EU. The Party General Secretary also had a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in the spirit of frankness and mutual understanding.

Trong and the leaders of the host countries agreed to strengthen political ties as a foundation for developing their long-term relations in all aspects, especially economics, trade and investment. They agreed to increase dialogues and maintain high-ranking meetings and the exchange of delegations at all levels.

In other fields such as economics, trade, investment, education-training, defence-security, and culture, the Party chief witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation agreements, plans and programmes.

Trong and the leaders of the European countries also discussed regional and international issues of common concern, including the East Sea issue.

The Vietnamese side received the sympathy and support of the EU and the three countries for its stance of solving the disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and in the spirit of the Declaration on Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea (DOC) towards the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.

The leaders agreed to continue cooperation and coordination at multilateral forums and spent much time discussing measures to boost the ASEAN-EU ties. They emphasised the role of Vietnam as a coordinator of ASEAN-EU relations, serving as a bridge for promoting the relations between the two important regions of the world.

They also debated measures to protect peace and boost development in Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific.

Regarding measures to realise the outcomes of the visit, Quan emphasised the need to carry out the key cooperation contents defined by Vietnam and its partners during the visit.

In the coming time, Vietnam will also boost relations between the CPV and political parties in the European countries, he added.