On the occasion of attending the 3rd United Nations Ocean Summit (UNOC 3) in Nice, French Republic, on June 9 local time, Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that Vietnam attaches great importance to and wishes to further promote multifaceted cooperation with Spain - Vietnam's first Strategic Partnership in the European Union (EU).
The two leaders affirmed that the economic, trade and investment sectors are one of the important pillars in the Vietnam - Spain Strategic Partnership.
The two leaders agreed to effectively implement the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the newly signed Protocol on bilateral financial cooperation, as well as soon hold the First Session of the Joint Committee on Economy, Trade and Investment in 2025 to maximize the potential and complementarity of the two economies, striving to bring bilateral trade turnover to exceed 8 billion USD in the coming time.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested that Spain support the European Parliament in promptly ratifying the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), as well as support and urge the EU to remove the yellow card for Vietnamese seafood (IUU); and suggested that the two sides continue to open up markets for each other to diversify markets, products and supply chains, avoiding dependence on one market.
The Prime Minister said that Vietnam wants to send a working group to Spain to learn from experience and strengthen cooperation in developing the railway industry, Spain cooperates in technology transfer and human resource training in this field.
For his part, the Spanish Prime Minister agreed with the comments of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, saying that strengthening solidarity and cooperation between countries is very important in the current context.
Spain wants to further strengthen bilateral relations with Vietnam; in particular, as the country with the second longest high-speed railway system in the world today, Spain is ready to cooperate, share experiences with Vietnam in this field and is ready to welcome a working group from Vietnam.
At the same time, Spain supports Vietnam in further strengthening partnerships and comprehensive cooperation with the EU, exploiting the great potential of EVFTA.
The Spanish Prime Minister respectfully invited Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to attend the 4th Fundside Summit (FfD) to be hosted by Spain to continue discussing more potential areas of cooperation between the two countries.
On this occasion, the two leaders affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, freedom of navigation and aviation in coastal areas, including the East Sea, on the basis of respecting the interests of coastal states in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
