Paris (VNA) – Vietnam successfully fulfilled itsrole as rotational Chairman of the ASEAN Committee in Paris (ACP) from April toJuly, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Ngoc Son.

The diplomat, who chaired the group of the ASEANambassadors to France over the last four months, told Vietnam News Agency thatthe Vietnamese Embassy in France was proactive in reinforcing ASEAN’s relationswith France.

The embassy stepped up the ACP’s links withFrance through meetings with local Government members, parliamentarians,scholars and businesses, including French Minister for Europe and ForeignAffairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, Chairman of the French Senate’s Committee onForeign Relations, Defence and Armed Forces Jean Pierre Raffarin, ExecutiveChairman of the French Institute of International Relations Thierry deMontbrial and executives of the EDF electricity group and Airbus.

The Vietnamese Embassy also chaired and participatedin events like the ASEAN Family Day so as to boost mutual understanding andsolidarity among the staff of the ASEAN countries’ embassies in Paris, Sonsaid.

He noted his embassy chaired the ACP amidFrance’s presidential and legislative elections, along with preparations formarking the 50th founding anniversary of ASEAN such as the anniversarycelebration, a workshop on ASEAN’s economy and an ASEAN film week in Paris.

With those positive outcomes, ASEAN diplomats laudedVietnam’s chairmanship of the ACP, Ambassador Son added.

He said the Vietnamese Embassy will continuecoordinating with the next ACP Chairman, the Bruneian Embassy, as well as otherACP members to organise celebrations for ASEAN’s 50th founding anniversary andother activities, thus popularising ASEAN in France.

Son noted that through meetings with Frenchofficials, he realised the foreign policy of the new administration in Francetowards Southeast Asia basically follows the orientations set by the previousgovernment. It continues to prioritise enhancing France’s relations with theregion and ASEAN member nations.

France wishes to strengthen economic ties withASEAN to make use of the region’s common market and grasp opportunitiesgenerated by the formation of ASEAN’s free trade areas with major partners suchas China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, alongwith the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

The EU nation will support its private sectorand small- and medium-sized enterprises to do business in ASEAN in fields suchas technology, digitalisation, environment, infrastructure and manufacturing,the Vietnamese diplomat said.

It also support the bloc’s efforts to ensurepeace, stability and cooperation and to build a regional security architecture,he noted, adding that France will increase its presence in the East Sea andpromote respect for the right to navigation and aviation freedom in the region.

For Vietnam, French leaders have often affirmedwillingness to intensify the two countries’ strategic partnership to meet bothsides’ interests and bring more cooperation opportunities.

Aside from politics and diplomacy, economiccooperation and cultural and people-to-people exchanges are prioritised areason the threshold of the 45th founding anniversary of the countries’ diplomaticties and five years of the strategic partnership in 2018, Ambassador Sonadded.-VNA