(VOVworld) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung left Paris on Thursday, successfully concluding his official visit to France. He is now heading to the US for the 68th UN General Assembly. 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault   Source: VOV

Earlier, Dung met with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault. The two sides signed a joint statement on upgrading Vietnam-France relations to a strategic partnership, opening a new chapter in cooperative relations between the two countries.
The two government leaders agreed to strengthen delegation exchange through bilateral visits and complete a dialogue and cooperation mechanism to boost cooperation in various fields including politics-diplomacy, national security-defence, economics-trade-investment, development –cooperation, culture, education-training, and scientific research.
Prime Minister Ayrault applauded Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements, its great efforts to overcome the economic crisis, and the country’s rising international status. Prime Minister Dung reaffirmed Vietnam’s unswerving policy of attaching great importance to developing ties with France in line with the two people’s expectation. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said: "The joint statement on a Vietnam-France strategic partnership is an important and meaningful landmark for the two countries especially in the context of the 40^th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties. Vietnam will continue to facilitate cooperation between enterprises and investors of the two countries, especially in areas of French strength such as high tech, energy, transportation, medicine, agriculture, and environment. It is essential to work out a specific plan to effectively implement the strategic partnership". 

The two Prime Ministers also agreed on the need to boost cooperation in international forums, especially in the framework of the UN, ASEAN-EU, and Francophonie. Regarding the East Sea issue, France shares and supports Vietnam’s consistent policy of settling disputes by peaceful means on a basis of respecting international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, strictly implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), and advancing to an early completion of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). The French Prime Minister said: "France supports free navigaton in the East Sea, strictly respects international law, and hopes that a Code of Conduct in the East Sea will be completed soon. Many countries share the same view with Vietnam in terms of assuring maritime security and free navigation in the East Sea. We encourage countries to pursue their role in their territories while respecting the independence, sovereignty, and self-determination of other countries. East Sea issues should be resolved in line with international law and dialogues codified in the COC". 

After the talks, the two Prime Ministers signed a joint statement on a Vietnam-France strategic partnership. They also witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation documents on healthcare, banking, trade promotion, transport infrastructure development, and oil and gas. The same day, Dung met with French President Francois Hollande and Senate President Jean-Pierre Bel.