New York (VNA) - The United Nations (UN) will continue payingattention to and support Vietnam's development priorities towards green andsustainable orientations, and just transition, especially in terms of financialaccess, UN Secretary-General Antonió Guterres told Vietnamese Permanent Deputy PrimeMinister Pham Binh Minh on September 23.

During their meeting on the sidelines of the high-level week ofthe 77th UN General Assembly (UNGA 77) in New York, Guterres appreciated Vietnam'sactive and responsible contributions to the common affairs of the largest global organisationin recent years, hoping that the country will promote its role and contributemore to addressing global issues.

Minh, for his part, emphasised that Vietnam always backs multilateralism and thecentral role of the United Nations in global governance and coordination ofefforts to address common challenges.

More efforts should be made to help the UN operate moreeffectively and with sufficient resources to best meet the needs andexpectations of member states, he said.

The Deputy PM reaffirmed Vietnam's commitment to workingwith member countries and UN leaders to advance important common agendas, fromthe implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals to peacekeepingoperations in different regions of the world.

Vietnam is actively implementing its commitments at the 26thUN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) to net zero emissions by 2050, Minh stated,proposing the UN actively support the process of building the Just EnergyTransition Partnership (JETP).

At a meeting with President of UNGA 77 Csaba Korosi, Minh appreciated Korosi's selection of the topic and priorities, affirming thatVietnam, as Vice President of the UNGA, will actively support and contribute tothe success of the session.

Korosi asserted that the UN appreciates Vietnam'scontributions and thanks the country for its active role in the implementationof the SDGs. Vietnam is a role model of economic growth associated withenvironmental protection, he stressed.

He also shared his priority on water resource management andwished to cooperate with Vietnam in this field, as it is necessary to promotemeasures to prevent water crises, build a water-related database at regionaland global levels, and connect national policies on water and climate change.

The UNGA President showed his hope that Vietnam will actively participate inand share its experience at the UN Water Conference in March 2023.

Agreeing with the UNGA President’s initiatives and proposals,and sharing his special concern over water management, Minh said that Vietnamalways considers water an important security issue due to many impacts ofdroughts, floods, sea level rise and the development and over-exploitation ofwater resources.

Vietnam is determined not to sacrifice the environment inexchange for economic growth, but there should be a balance between economicdevelopment and environmental protection, he stressed./.