The host leader welcomed To Lam’s first visit to Ireland and hailed Vietnam’s foreign policy, while affirming that his nation respects Vietnam’s position and role in Asia-Pacific.

Both countries share many similarities in the past struggles for national independence, and there are no areas or topics that they are unable to discuss or cooperate in, Higgins told his guest.

Higgins recalled his visit to Vietnam in 2016, saying that he is impressed with the Southeast Asian nation’s achievements in socio-economic development, international integration, and realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals in recent years. He also showed his sympathy with Vietnam over the heavy consequences of Typhoon Yagi.

The top Vietnamese leader said Vietnam places importance on developing its friendship and all-around cooperation with Ireland. The nation highly appreciates the Irish Government giving priority to Vietnam in its development cooperation policy within the framework of the “Global Ireland: Delivering in the Asia Pacific Region to 2025” strategy.

Lam expressed his wish that Ireland will continue provide development assistance for Vietnam in the prioritized fields such as green growth, response to climate change, environmental protection, information technology, digital transformation and sustainable development.

To strengthen mutual political trust and understanding, the two leaders consented to intensify the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones, and actively implement existing cooperation mechanisms.

Lam said he is glad to announce that the Vietnamese Government has decided and is implementing procedures for the opening of the Vietnamese Embassy in Ireland.

Both leaders expressed their confidence that this decision will herald a new development stage for the bilateral relations for the sake of common interests of the two countries' people.

The host leader emphasized that Vietnam is Ireland's leading trade partner and that there is still ample room for cooperation between the two countries; acknowledged Vietnam's proposal to accelerate the ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to expand cooperation and investment opportunities between the Vietnamese and Irish business communities; and wished that Vietnam will facilitate Ireland's export of high-quality agricultural products and food products.

The two sides welcomed the establishment of a strategic partnership on higher education between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and the Irish Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, as well as the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Vietnam National University, Hanoi and leading universities of Ireland.

Host and guest agreed that this is a priority area of cooperation between the two nations, thereby helping to improve the quality of training, develop high-quality human resources, promote scientific research and innovation in Vietnam.

To enhance mutual understanding and connections between the two countries' people, the leaders concurred to boost people-to-people exchanges, cultural and artistic cooperation, tourism cooperation, and partnerships between localities of Vietnam and Ireland.

The two sides concurred to offer favourable conditions for the two countries' nationals to live and work, contribute to each other's socio-economic development process, and promote their role as a bridge for the friendship between Vietnam and Ireland.

During the talks, both leaders compared notes on regional security issues of shared concern, such as the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East. They called on all sides to protect civilians, conduct dialogue, and resolve conflicts by peaceful measures on the basis of international law and the basic principles of the United Nations Charter.

They consented to ramp up cooperation at multilateral forums such as ASEAN-EU and the United Nations and in various areas such as response to global challenges, climate change, food security, and ensuring supply chains.

They advocated ASEAN's stance on the East Sea issue in terms of ensuring peace, stability, security, cooperation and development in the region, and settling disputes by peaceful means on the basis of respect for international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).