UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (R) welcomes Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the COP 26 (Photo: VNA)

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the government leaders of the UK, Germany and Croatia in Glasgow on November 1 evening (London time) on the sidelines of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).

Meeting with the UN Secretary-General, PM Chinh stressed that Vietnam highly values the UN’s central role and hopes to enhance comprehensive cooperation with the body.

Guterres applauded the country’s participation in international affairs, including climate change response and engagement in the UN peacekeeping force, as well as its responsible performance as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during 2020 - 2021.

Talking about considerable climate change impacts on Vietnam, PM Chinh reaffirmed the country’s strong commitment to the fight against climate change.

The UN Secretary-General spoke highly of Vietnam’s commitment at COP26 to achieving net zero emissions, which is a meaningful contribution to the world’s common efforts to cope with the climate crisis. He expressed the readiness to assist the country during the transition to a green and circular economy and renewable energy development, and to help Vietnam and other countries along the Mekong River to deal with land erosion and saltwater intrusion, among others.

Also on late November 1, the Vietnamese leader met with British PM Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic.

The leaders expressed their delight at Vietnam’s bilateral cooperation with the European countries, whose leaders spoke highly of PM Chinh’s speech at the COP26 and described Vietnam as a good example for the international community.

They pledged to continue assistance for Vietnam and other countries in the Mekong River basin to handle land erosion, saltwater intrusion, and other issues to ensure food security and sustainable development. They said Vietnam’s commitments have helped strengthen investors’ trust, and that they are ready to help the country during the transition to a green and circular economy and renewable energy development.

The leaders of the UK, Germany, and Croatia added they are willing to keep supporting Vietnam with vaccines and medical supplies in the time ahead.

On this occasion, PM Chinh offered sincere thanks to the British, German, and Croatian governments for providing Vietnam with vaccines.

PM busy with COP26 sidelines meetings

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on November 2 met with Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babis, President of the Republic of Armenia Armen Sarkisian and World Bank (WB) Managing Director of Operations Axel van Trotsenburg on the sidelines of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in the UK.

At his meeting with Czech PM Andrej Babis, Chinh thanked the Czech Republic for giving vaccines to Vietnam as well as providing support and assistance to the Vietnamese community in the European nation so that they can settle down.

The Czech PM pledged to continue promoting the traditional friendship and cooperation relationship between his nation and Vietnam and to support the Vietnamese expatriates in the Czech Republic.

During his meeting with the Armenian President, the Vietnamese PM welcomed and shared the proposal of the Armenian leader on consolidating and strengthening the two countries’ traditional friendship and cooperation.

Receiving Axel van Trotsenburg, PM Chinh described the WB as a friend and leading development partner of Vietnam. He thanked the organisation for its contribution to Vietnam’s economic development and social security, particularly via providing the nation with non-refundable aid worth 6.2 million USD and backing the rescheduling debt payment for Vietnam so that the country can reserve resources for COVID-19 prevention and control.

The PM affirmed that sustainable development and green growth are a consistent policy and view of Vietnam.

For his part, the WB official vowed to further assist Vietnam in its process of building macroeconomics policy and accessing sustainable financial sources for green, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The sides agreed to enhance the bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and the WB.

Talking with the Mayor of Los Angeles and current Chair of C40 Cities Eric Garcetti and a number of governors of states and mayors of cities in the Americas, Chinh welcomed the C40 Cities’ proposal on cooperation with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the fields of infrastructure, innovation and management capacity improvement./.

Source: VNA