Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and European Council (EC) President Donald Tusk in Manila, the Philippines on November 13 on the sidelines of the 31st ASEAN Summit and related meetings.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Manila, the Philippines

At the meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, PM Phuc affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to developing ties with the UN, vowing to strengthen the country’s contributions to UN operations.

Vietnam hopes to continue working closely with other countries to promote the role of the UN in maintaining peace and international security, and speed up development cooperation, he said.

Guterres said that he and people in his homeland, Portugal, have warm sentiments towards Vietnam.

He underlined that Vietnam is a top priority of the UN in the region during its implementation of Agenda 2030 on sustainable development. He said that UN economic agencies will work with Vietnam and provide support to the country to reach sustainable development goals.

Both sides agreed on the need to deal with East Sea issues through peaceful measures in line with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982. They shared hope that the ASEAN and China will soon finalise the Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

Meeting EC President Donald Tusk, the Vietnamese PM proposed that the EC sign and ratify the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement as soon as possible, while continuing to assist Vietnam in education-training, science-technology and climate change response.

Tusk conveyed his sympathy to victims of typhoon Damrey, stating that the EU is willing to help Vietnam in overcoming the consequences of the disaster.

Both sides shared delight at the progress of the comprehensive cooperative partnership between Vietnam and the EU, noting that two-way trade in the first nine months of this year rose 14 percent.

They agreed to continue efforts to promote bilateral ties within the Asia-Europe Meeting and ASEAN-EU relations.-VNA