Vietnamese and French leaders agree to boost cooperation
May 10 (VNA) -- Viet Nam's Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh; France's President, Jacques Chirac; and Senate President, Christian Poncelet; have agreed to deepen Viet Nam-France cooperation bilaterally and multilaterally in all areas, political, economic, cultural, sientific- technical, and training.
Mme Binh, who ended a week-long official visit to France on May 9, met with French President Jacques Chirac. She also held talks with Senate President C. Poncelet and had working sessions with delegations led by Minister of Justice, Marylise Lebranchu, and Minister of Youth and Sports, Marie George Buffet.
Mme Binh assured Chirac and Poncelet that Viet Nam will remain committed to its current course of renewal, industrialization and modernization. Binh also stated that the country will continue its open foreign policy as a step not only toward further intergration into the regional and global economies, but also toward broadening its friendship and cooperation with all countries of the world, particularly France - an important European partner of Viet Nam.
The French leaders welcomed the outcome of the ninth congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, expressing the belief that Viet Nam's renewal and development process would lead to greater prosperity for the country..
They also spoke highly of Viet Nam's chairmanship of the ASEAN Standing Committee (ASC), as well as its position in the regional and international arena. In addition to this, Mme Binh and Chirac exchanged views on preparations for the ninth Francophone summit slated for this October in Lebanon.
Senate President C. Poncelet on Wednesday gave a dinner in honour of his guest.
Earlier, Vice President Binh visited the headquarters of the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) and discussed Viet Nam-UNESCO cooperation with General Director K. Matsuura.--VNA
