Delegation of the European Union to Syria

07/30/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/30/2024 04:10

Vietnam: Press statement by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell following his meeting with Bui Thanh Son, Foreign Minister of Vietnam

My dear Minister (of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, Bui Thanh Son), Ladies and Gentlemen,

I was in Hanoi last Thursday for the funeral of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

As High Representative for the Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, I express my condolences to the people of Vietnam on the passing of General Secretary [Nguyen] Phu Trong, who made an important contribution to strengthening the position of Vietnam on the global stage and fostering a strong partnership with the European Union.

Vietnam is a very important country for the European Union. Vietnam is the country in Southeast Asia with whom the European Union has the largest number of agreements, including a Free Trade Agreementand [Partnership] and Cooperation Agreement.

This Free Trade Agreement entered into force in 2020. Since then, in the past 4 years, trade with Europe has increased by 36%. And this has made Vietnam the first trading partner [of the European Union] in Southeast Asia.

And we have discussed with my friend, the Minister, how to fully implement the Free Trade Agreement.

On the other hand, we are supporting Vietnam's commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. That is an important commitment to become net zero emission of gas [that] affect climate change by 2050 - it means in 25 years. It is a strong commitment, and I welcome the commitment from Vietnam in this field.

And in order to support you in fulfilling this commitment, we have to accelerate the implementation of our Just Energy Transition Partnership(JETP). The process has to accelerate [by] identifying priority projects and implementing regulatory reforms.

We also discussed about human rights, which is an integral part of European Union - Vietnam relationship.

And we started discussing international developments, that we will continue discussing during our lunch.

As I said on Saturday at the [31stASEAN] Regional Forumin Laos - we were together - in today's world of crises and confrontations, Europe and ASEAN must stand together.

And we recognise the centrality of ASEAN. We have started discussing these issues, and we will continue discussing them during lunch. But I want to stress that the Russia's aggression against Ukraine has created a lot of suffering to the Ukrainian people.

Ukraine is today being destroyed by this war, and the Ukrainians are struggling for the existence as an independent and sovereign country.

I understand that, for the Vietnamese people that this war of aggression against Ukraine may seem far away. And certainly, geographically, it is far away from here. But the consequences of this war, which includes inflation, food insecurity and [a] rise of energy prices - are felt everywhere in the world.

So, one way or another, this war concerns everybody.

It is about the fulfilment of international law; and international law has to be fulfilled everywhere. This is true in Ukraine, that is true in Gaza, in the Middle East, and that is true in the South China Sea.

We will discuss - we are discussing - the rising tensions in the South China Sea in which we have a direct interest. Some may say "It is very far away". No, it is not very far away, because 38% of all our imports and 22% of all our exports go through the water of the South China Sea.

So, whatever happens in this sea touches our vital economic interests.

That is why, my dear Minister, I am encouraged by your diplomatic activities and talks with all regional actors, such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

The European Union wants to be a "smart enabler" for peace and security in the region.

We want to increase cooperation with you, to increase your capabilities in cyber security, maritime security, and crisis management.

I thank you for your cooperation in our military training missions all around the world, in particular, in the Central African Republic.

All and all,

Vietnam is a crucial partner for the European Union's Indo-Pacific Strategy. We look forward to reinforcing our partnership. I would like my visit to be the moment to launch the process to upgrade our relations. And one of the most important deliverables of this meeting will be the decision to start working, from today onwards, to upgrade our relations towards the level of Strategic and Comprehensive [Partnership].

Thank you, Minister.

Link to the video (starting at 13:38): https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-259907