FM Son made the statement while receiving visiting State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Erling Rimestad in Hanoi on March 1.
The Vietnamese official expressed his delight at the two countries’ fruitful cooperation across many spheres in both bilateral and multilateral aspects.
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Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (right) and visiting State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Erling Rimestad |
Regarding the potential for future cooperation in the time ahead, FM Son suggested the two countries’ foreign ministries work closely together, promote all-level delegation exchanges, and make efforts to speed up the negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) which groups Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
For his part, State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Erling Rimestad confirmed that Norway considers Vietnam a priority partner in Southeast Asia and wishes to further tighten their bilateral ties.
Based on the two nations’ current sound relations, the guest agreed on further promoting political contacts and exchanges of delegations at all levels; pushing negotiations on the FTA in the spirit of flexibility and mutual benefits; and expanding cooperation to areas with potential and of common interest such as oceans, climate change, energy transition and green economy, especially in the context that the two countries have joined the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
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An overview of the ninth Vietnam - Norway political consultation |
In the afternoon the same day, Deputy FM Le Thi Thu Hang and visiting State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Erling Rimestad co-chaired the 9th political consultation between the two foreign ministries, during which they discussed measures to bolster cooperation between the two countries in agriculture, education - training, labor, science - technology and security - defense.
Both officials agreed to coordinate closely and support each other at U.N. agencies and organizations, while enhancing cooperation between ASEAN and Norway.
They emphasized the significance of ensuring maritime and aviation freedom and peace and security at sea, and respecting international laws and the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.
Translated by Song Anh