Vietnamese top diplomat attends conference on Belt and Road cooperation

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son

At the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi, on June 23, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son attended the Asia-Pacific online summit on Belt and Road cooperation.

The conference was also attended by the President of Colombia, Prime Minister of Fiji, Deputy Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers or Trade Ministers of 10 ASEAN countries, some South Asian countries, Central Asia, Latin America, Pacific island nations, and representatives of international organizations in the region.

With the theme “Promoting cooperation in response to the pandemic for a sustainable recovery,” the delegates focused on discussing the challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region, especially the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts, and solutions to respond to the pandemic and promote economic recovery, develop green economy, circular economy towards sustainable and inclusive development at the whole country level and area.

All countries emphasized the need to strengthen the exchange of information and experiences in pandemic response; expressed support for the COVAX Initiative and called on development partners and international organizations to continue to support developing countries in accessing timely and affordable vaccines.

The statements also suggested that it is necessary to promote cooperation in research, technology transfer, and vaccine production; encourage regional and international financial institutions to provide preferential credit to developing countries so that they can effectively respond to the pandemic.

Delegates emphasized that priority should be given to promoting a sustainable and inclusive economic recovery, towards a green economy with low carbon emissions, and fully and timely implementation of the sustainable United Nations development goals up to 2030 (SDG 2030) and the Paris Agreement on climate change; strengthen information exchange, cooperation in green economic development, environmental cooperation, sustainable infrastructure development, clean energy; mobilize financial resources for green growth; building capacity to respond to climate change…

In addition, a number of countries assessed that Belt and Road cooperation could make positive contributions to the common efforts of the region through connectivity projects, trade and investment facilitation, production, and trade, supply vaccines, support the development of green economy, circular economy.

Speaking at the conference, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recovery and sustainable development are urgent issues for all countries.

Vietnam highly appreciates and proposes that the international community continue to support countries, especially developing countries, to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, transition to a green and circular economy, and expand trade and investment in order to contribute to promoting economic recovery towards sustainable and inclusive development.

Emphasizing that regional cooperation is very important for the Asia-Pacific to recover and adapt to the rapid changes of the world economy, Minister Bui Thanh Son raised three important issues that countries need to pay attention to:

Strengthen multilateral cooperation to effectively coordinate epidemic prevention efforts, promote the transfer of vaccine production technology, and ensure that all countries can access rapid vaccine supplies, timely with reasonable cost;

Better promote regional cooperation frameworks and initiatives such as APEC, ASEAN, and Belt and Road to promote trade and investment, facilitate market access for businesses, and connect the transport system and logistics in the region, developing the digital economy;

Strengthen support for developing countries to fully and timely implement the 2030 SDG goals, share experiences and transfer technology to a green economy.

Consistently affirming the dual goals of both disease prevention and promotion of socio-economic recovery and development, Minister Bui Thanh Son emphasized that Vietnam continues to promote international economic integration, expansion, and deep cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region for peace, prosperity, and sustainable development of the whole region.

The conference adopted the “Belt and Road Partnership Initiative on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation” and the “Belt and Road Partnership Initiative on Green Development.”

Thoibao.de (Translated)

Source: https://baomoi.com/c/39282208.epi