The statement was made by French Ambassador to Vietnam Olivier Brochet during his meeting with Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang on November 23 at the Vietnamese Defense Ministry’s headquarters.
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General Phan Van Giang receives French Ambassador Olivier Brochet. |
At the reception, General Giang congratulated Ambassador Brochet on his new appointment as the French Ambassador to Vietnam, affirming that Vietnam always attaches importance to developing relations with France. 2023 marks 50 years of Vietnam - France diplomatic relations and 10 years of their strategic partnership. So far, the bilateral relations have been enhanced and developed practically in many fields, in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks.
He underscored that the defense cooperation is one of the important pillars in the Vietnam - France strategic partnership. Accordingly, over the past years, the bilateral defense cooperation has been bolstered on the basis of the agreement on Vietnam - France defense cooperation, and Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam - France defense cooperation in the 2018-2028 period, gaining active achievements in many fields, such as delegation exchange, operation of strategic defense dialogue and cooperation mechanism, training, U.N. peacekeeping, military medicine, hydrometrics, and coordination and support at multilateral forums.
Regarding cooperation orientation in the coming time, the Vietnamese defense minister recommended that both sides boost defense cooperation, focusing on all-level delegation exchange, legal frameworks for training cooperation, effective implementation of signed specialized cooperation agreements, war-left consequence mitigation, expansion of cooperation to new areas where both sides have potential and needs, and coordination and support for each other at multilateral forums.
He expressed his hope that in the new position, Ambassador Brochet would make remarkable contribution to the development of the Vietnam - France cooperation in all fields, including defense cooperation.
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General Phan Van Giang presents souvenir to French Ambassador Olivier Brochet. |
For his part, Ambassador Brochet thanked General Giang for his warm reception, hailing the role of Vietnam in the region, especially in ASEAN. He also expressed his impression on the phone talks between Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and French President Emmanuel Macron, which proved the two leaders’ desire to beef up bilateral cooperation for the sake of the two peoples, as well as for peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.
He also emphasized that as an E.U. member, France will raise its voice for the cooperation with ASEAN member countries, including Vietnam, and be committed to supporting Vietnam in the U.N. peacekeeping field in the time to come.
Translated by Minh Anh