Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) meets US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Bonn.
Talking to the press after the meeting, he said Vietnam was invited to almost meetings and activities of the G20 in 2017 since it is the APEC Chair this year.
At the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on February 16-17, Deputy Prime Minister (PM) and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh reiterated his country’s foreign policy of multilateralizing and diversifying external relations and proactively and actively integrating into the world.
In the face of complex developments around the world, the Deputy PM called on countries to enhance global cooperation in maintaining peace, stability and sustainable development. He asked for the peaceful settlement of disputes and disagreements, and the compliance with international law and legal – diplomatic processes.
He also asked the G20 members to increase assisting developing nations to realize the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in infrastructure building, human resources development, technology transfer, and climate change response, his assistant said.
In his speech, Deputy PM Minh stressed that protectionism and selfish isolation are not a solution to socio-economic issues. He called on countries to boost coordination to promote global and regional trade, exert efforts to build a balanced and rules-based multilateral trading system, and ensure that all counties and people can benefit from trade and economic growth.
The themes and priorities of the agenda of the G20 and APEC in 2017 share many similarities which are a foundation for the two forums to connect and coordinate in spheres of common concern such as promoting sustainable, creative and inclusive growth; economic, trade and investment connectivity; innovation; and cooperation in climate change response.
As the APEC Chair in 2017, Vietnam is actively taking part in and contributing to the G20’s meetings. It is combining APEC’s priorities with its activities in the G20’s events to step up regional and global coordination in settling global economic and governance issues amidst numerous challenges facing the world.
In the fringe of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Minh met with the foreign ministers of Germany, the US, the UK, Brazil and Spain, who highly valued Vietnam’s role and standing in the region and its active engagement in the G20 meetings as the host of APEC activities in 2017.
They also discussed ways to foster Vietnam’s bilateral ties and coordination with the countries at regional and global multilateral forums, Assistant Minh added.
Source: VNA