PM meets with senior French officials
Vietnam attaches great importance to its defence cooperation with France as the two countries have seen important developments in all fields such as delegation exchange, training, army medicine and defence industry, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has said.
Dung made the remarks at a meeting with French Minister of Defence Le Drain in Paris on September 24.
He also suggested both sides increase the sharing of information between defence strategic research agencies, work together in training and the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions.
Le Drain expressed his belief that the upcoming strategic partnership will open new cooperation fields in defence cooperation which he said has become a pillar in the relations between the two countries.
The Minister affirmed that France is willing to assist Vietnam in the UN peacekeeping activities, personnel training, and defence technology.
Meeting with National Secretary of the French Communist Party Pierre Laurent, PM Dung informed his host that Vietnam and France will lift their ties to a strategic partnership level, underpinned by the traditional solidarity, friendship and special cooperation between the Vietnamese and French Communist Parties.
Laurent expressed his wish to further step up cooperation between the two parties via visit exchange to share experience in party building and forge cooperation in other fields.
He said he pins high hope on strong and practical cooperation between the two parties and peoples in the time ahead.
At a reception for General Secretary of the France-Vietnam Society (FVS) Patrice Jorland, Dung told his host that Vietnam views the association as a channel for information exchange to promote mutual trust and understanding between the two peoples.
In such spirit, he said he hopes the FVS will continue working as a bridge to help the French and international friends know more about Vietnam, thus forging closer ties between the two nations.
Jorland made it clear that his association will work for stronger cooperation between the two countries.
The FVS is helping Vietnam ease war consequences by extending its support to Agent Orange/dioxin victims. It also supports Vietnam in dealing with sustainable development issues, poverty reduction and national industrialization.