According to VNA, attending the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Ministerial Council Meeting, the Vietnam's Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered a speech at its inaugural plenary session, whose theme highlighted an inclusive and sustainable economy and society.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son at the OECD’s Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris on May 2 and 3. Photo: TG&VN

In his remarks at its inaugural plenary session at OECD’s Ministerial Council Meeting, Son proposed that the OECD take the lead in promoting global cooperation, specifically in building a global innovative ecosystem that effectively harnesses the dual trends of green transition and digital transformation, with a focus on innovation, AI, and just energy transition.

He added that it is necessary to establish mechanisms for experiences sharing and capacity building to help countries maximize human potential, unleash growth drivers, and foster inclusive prosperity, while encouraging OECD countries to provide financial, technical, and technological support for non-OECD ones’ implementation of strategic breakthroughs, particularly in human resources, infrastructure, and institutions.

Within the framework of the meeting, the Vietnamese delegation also participated in several other important activities, including a ministerial dialogue of the Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches (IFCMA) and an event discussing safe, secure, and trustworthy AI governance.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son proposed the OECD co-ordinate with the nation to realize their co-operation focuses at a meeting with Mathias Cormann, OECD secretary general, VOV reported.

FM Son called on the organization to go ahead with its continued support for the implementation of the 15 projects within the Vietnam-OECD action plan for 2022 to 2026.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son (left) and OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann. Photo: TG&VN

He therefore requested that both sides strive to enhance their partnership on the basis of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) they signed, while also suggesting the OECD facilitate the country’s ongoing intensive integration into its specialized bodies. This should be done alongside helping the country to understand and contribute more to the building of global governance policies, especially in finance, tax, economy, development, digital policies, investment, and science-technology.

The Minister presented Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s thank-you letter to the OECD, in which the leader appreciated the organization’s invitation for the nation to attend the MCM, as well as its support for the country’s co-chairmanship of the OECD’s Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP) for the 2022 to 2025 period.

In response, Cormann greatly valued the country’s role, as well as its active and responsible contributions to the SEARP, saying that he is willing to work alongside the country to select the specialized bodies that can help it to seize global trends and standards in service of its making of suitable development policies.

As part of the occasion, Minister Son met with Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Manufacturing of Australia Tim Ayres, during which the Vietnamese official suggested the two sides soon complete the action programme in a bid to implement the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

This would create a firm foundation for them to deepen their collaboration across several spheres, particularly economics, trade, investment, agriculture, education-training, and labor, while also expanding co-operation in new areas such as the green economy, energy transition, and digital transformation, he said.

The Assistant Minister went on to suggest that the Australian side continue its official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam in terms of climate change response and human resources development.

Assistant Minister Ayres highlighted co-ordination between the two countries as SEARP co-chairs for the 2022 to 2025 period, affirming Australian support for Vietnamese efforts in enhancing its relationship with the OECD.

He also voiced his support for the co-operation project between Vietnam, Australia, and Laos, expressing his wishes for stronger ties with the Vietnamese side in all fields.

Minister Son on May 3 held a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Minister Kamikawa Yoko, where he called on the Far East nation to increase its investment in the Vietnamese market in new realms like semiconductors, as well as helping the Southeast Asian nation to join its regional supply chain.

He also suggested the two countries bolster linkages in culture, people-to-people exchange, labor, and personnel training.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Japanese counterpart Kamikawa Yoko. Photo: TG&VN

For her part, Minister Yoko said Japan backs the initiatives, orientations, and priorities proposed by the Vietnamese side to promote co-operation with the OECD, agreeing to forge ties between the two countries at multilateral forums like the OECD and the ASEAN.

Japan will therefore continue its assistance to Vietnam in industrialization and modernization in the new context, she pledged.

As part of his working trip, Minister Son visited the headquarters of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) in Paris, where he met with Louise Mushikiwabo, secretary general of the OIF.

The Minister said the nation always support the OIF’s efforts in promoting co-operation for peace and development worldwide, noting that the country will attend and actively contribute to the 19th Francophonie Summit slated for October in France.

Mushikiwabo emphasized that the OIF attaches importance to the Vietnamese role and position within the Francophone community, promising to help Vietnam enhance its economic, trade, investment, and tourism ties with French-speaking countries in a sustainable manner.

The OIF will therefore strive to beef up co-operation with the nation in terms of spreading the language and providing French language training for Vietnamese peacekeeping forces, she said, affirming the organization’s readiness to admit Vietnamese officials to work at its Secretariat.

On the sidelines of the OECD’s Ministerial Council Meeting, the Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs met his Peruvian counterpart Javier Gonzalez Olaechea, Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Lithuanian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Simonas Satunas, Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith on May 2.

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