France is expected to soon push for the supply of a large quantity of Covid-19 vaccines for Vietnam via the COVAX Facility.

Vietnam's Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son at the phone talk. Source: MoFA

French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean Yves Le Drian informed his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son in a phone talk today [July 23].

The French Minister expressed his impression of Vietnam’s strong results against the Covid-19 pandemic and economic development and thanked the authorities for allowing the import of vaccines to administer to the French community in the country.

During the talk, Le Drian highly regarded the strong progress of the Vietnam-France strategic partnership, which was reflected by previous talks between Vietnam’s State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and President Emanuel Macron, as well as between two prime ministers Pham Minh Chinh and Jean Castex.

Le Drian noted Vietnam is one of France’s key partners in its Indo-Pacific strategy while expressing his willingness to cooperate with the Vietnamese side to prepare for upcoming visits of leaders from both countries; the organization of the 12th cooperation conference between Vietnam-France’ provinces in 2022;  activities to celebrate 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and 10th anniversary of strategic partnership in 2023.

Le Drian acknowledged Vietnam’s efforts in combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing while saying he expects the European Commission to soon lift the yellow card on Vietnam in this regard.

For his part, Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son highlighted France’s active contribution to Vietnam-EU relations, especially in the ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Son called for the French authorities to soon approve the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Given the current strategic partnership between the two countries, Son called for the French government to continue to support Vietnam's access to vaccine technology and medical equipment, at the same time creating conditions for Vietnam’s seasonal farm produce to access the French market.

The two ministers also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interests, stressing the importance of maintaining free navigation, security, and peace on the East Sea in line with the international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).