Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had meetings with leaders of the South Pacific countries of Nauru and Marshall, and Guyana, a South American country, on the sidelines of the sixth Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in the central city of Da Nang on June 27.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and President of Nauru Baron Waqa

At a meeting with President of Nauru Baron Waqa, PM Phuc congratulated Nauru on taking over the GEF Presidency from Micronesia as well as the position as President of the group of Pacific island countries from September 2018.

He proposed that Nauru increase exchanges of delegations in promising areas of aquaculture, fisheries, agriculture, tourism, and mining.

Vietnam welcomes delegations from Nauru visiting Vietnam to exchange experience in rice cultivation, developing industrial trees, aquatic farming, and telecommunications.

The PM thanked Nauru for supporting the nomination of Vietnam as the candidate of the group for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2020-2021 tenure.

Stressing the East Sea issue as the common interest of all countries in the region, the PM said that the international community, including ASEAN and Vietnam, expressed the viewpoint of settling disputes through peaceful measures in line with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982, as well as the maintenance of peace, stability and maritime and aviation security and safety in the East Sea.

He asked Nauru to raise its voice to support ASEAN and Vietnam’s effort and stance in the field.

For his part, President Baron Waqa held that Vietnam is an emerging economy with high potential and expressed his hope that Vietnam will play an active role in the Asia-Pacific region in the future.

He stressed the increasing role of Asia-Pacific in dealing with global climate change and greenhouse effect.

Regarding fisheries, he expressed his wish for Vietnam’s support to Nauru in preventing illegal fishing as it is related to livelihoods of island countries like Nauru and marine environment protection.

Nauru also wishes to cooperate with Vietnam in fighting human trafficking and cross-border crimes.

At a meeting with President of Marshall Hilda Heine, PM Phuc affirmed that Vietnam highly values friendship and cooperation with Marshal, suggesting that leaders of both sides take advantages of multilateral forums to meet and increase mutual trust and understanding.

The two sides should consider and sign a number of framework cooperation agreements to create a legal framework for bilateral cooperation, while sharing information and coordinating in regional issues of shared concern, he said.

For her part, Hilda Heine said that she hopes Vietnam will share experience in its strong areas such as agriculture and rural development, fishing and aquatic farming, and developing and processing products from industrial crops, while strengthening collaboration in dealing with regional challenges, including climate change and natural disaster relief.

She pledged to continue working closely with Vietnam at multilateral and regional forums, including the UN.

Meeting Guyana’s President David Granger, PM Phuc congratulated Guyana on recent achievements in national construction and development.

He underscored that Vietnam pays due attention in boosting friendship and cooperation with Guyana, proposing that the two sides increase delegation exchange and foster collaboration in areas of both sides’ strengths, thus reinforcing trust and mutual understanding.

The Guyana President agreed that the two sides should promote cooperation in information technology and infrastructure system, while backing businesses in meeting and studying each other’s market, thus raising two-way trade and investment.

On the occasion, PM Phuc thanked Guyana’s President Granger for supporting Vietnam’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2020-2021 tenure.

He asked Guyana to recognise Vietnam’s market economy soon.

Granger hailed important attainments of Vietnam in economic development and poverty reduction as well as regional and international integration, showing his hope that Vietnam will expand cooperation with South Pacific and South American regions.-VNA