Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the COP 26 summit under the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of The Parties (COP26) and clubbed it with the visit to UK. He is visiting France after the COP26 Summit. Prime Minister Chinh made a strong proposition about Vietnam’s commitments on climate change and urged the developed countries to finance the climate change mitigation efforts that Vietnam would be making to reduce carbon footprints.
During the visit to the UK, Prime Minister Chinh highlighted the importance of the Vietnam UK strategic partnership and how it has helped Vietnam to tide over the COVID-19 pandemic. As already United Kingdom is Vietnam third largest export market and with the signing of the EU- Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, it is expected that the Europe would be primary focus area for the country in terms of expanding its trade and exploring new investment opportunities. United Kingdom is also the 13th largest foreign direct investor in Vietnam.
After the COP 26 meeting, the Vietnamese Prime Minister will visit France and would exchange areas of mutual interest between the two sides. During the visit to France which will be held from November 3 to 5 it is expected that the two sides will discuss strategic partnership, increasing political interactions, improving economic relations under the EU Vietnam free trade agreement, and promoting collaboration in the fields of culture and health as well. France also looks towards Vietnam in Asia given the history of French occupation of Vietnam and the battle of the Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The two countries have signed the strategic partnership in the year 2020 and had established diplomatic relations in the year 1980.
One of the tangible outcomes of this visit would be mutual recognition of degrees and certificates so that Vietnamese students can get education in France. Vietnam has been looking for digitization in governance and continue the anti-corruption drive which has been undertaken under able leadership of the party general secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng . Vietnam aims to build e-services apps and portals for facilitating government services. France leads in mitigating the negative impacts of climate change. Vietnam is seeking the technical aid and training from French Development Agency to address the challenges related to climate change.
Vietnamese Prime Minister is expected to visit Paris for seeking financial help for phase two expansion of Hoa Binh hydropower project, undertaking feasibility studies to prevent flooding of Dien Bein Phu as well as work with France in developing solar grids and conduct research in renewable energies. The Vietnamese Prime Minister is also going to seek France assistance and aid for delivery of advanced vaccines against COVID-19 virus. Given the fact that there are many advanced variants of the Corona virus are mutating therefore Vietnam would look forward for vaccinating its younger population between the age group of 12 years to 18 years.
France is also the leader in aerospace technologies, and Vietnam looks to develop small and mini satellites for understanding weather patterns and better geospatial data collection. There are few French language schools in Vietnam and Vietnamese government wants a better interaction between Vietnam and France in terms of culture and language training so that new Vietnamese students and entrepreneurs can expand Vietnamese trade and investment in France. France has also highlighted keenness to work with Vietnam in the Indo- Pacific theatre and has expressed that would be working with Vietnam in the United Nations Security Council. Vietnam has been very instrumental in supporting France entry as a development partner of ASEAN.
Earlier in 2018, when French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe visited Vietnam, he alluded to the fact that there is need for investment in intelligence, knowledge, skills, and training. He clearly acknowledged the fact that Vietnamese students prefer to study in French universities and Vietnam is the natural extension of Francophone Asia. During the visit the French minister stated that France will be supporting all those countries which want to promote French language and culture in their country. During the visit to Dien Bein Phu the French Prime Minister stated that “the common past” between the two countries should be remembered “in a peaceful way”. In the last visit of the French Prime Minister the two sides have signed deals related to trade and investment.
During this visit to United Kingdom, the Vietnamese Prime Minister met Vietnamese Diaspora urged the community to make contributions to the homeland through financial resources and their knowledge. Prime Minster Chinh acknowledged that nearly 100,000 people of Vietnamese origin in UK have helped in building ties between Vietnam and UK. Vietnamese community in UK also handed over cheque for COVID-19 fight in Vietnam.
Prime Minister Chinh oversaw nearly 26 cooperation agreements between Vietnam and UK during his trip for the COP 26. The 26 agreements included lowering carbon emissions, cooperation in education, human resources training, investment, and Support to the startups in Vietnam. The Vietnamese airlines Vietjet air and the Rolls Royce group also signed an agreement for supply of aircraft engine spares for the wide bodied fleet of the airlines. The agreements were in total worth billions of U.S. dollars in fields such as research and education, banking, finance, climate change, efficient energy, training, and capability building.
During the visit Prime Minister Chinh also hosted leaders of foreign multinational corporations and British universities representatives in Edinburgh. The Prime Minister assured that Vietnam is working steadfastly to improve conditions for investment in Vietnam to invite private capital and investment in sectors which are necessary for Vietnam’s economic growth. The universities also expressed support to Vietnam for developing pharmaceutical industry and basic health infrastructure. Many of the multinationals and the representatives of universities appreciated Vietnam’s effort in countering COVID-19 pandemic and undertaking conducive environment as well as tax incentives to invite foreign investment in Vietnam.
