Việt Nam has made efforts in its legislation framework for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in a very positive way. What is more important is proper implementation and enforcement of the legislative framework in provinces and among fishermen, said Julien Guerrier, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Việt Nam.

During the first press briefing since taking office this week, the newly-appointed ambassador said the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” against Việt Nam’s seafood products for IUU fishing is an important topic that has been discussed for several years between the EU and Việt Nam.

The EC inspectors will make a visit to Việt Nam in October to check the situation, he said.

During the press conference, he shared with the media about priority areas of cooperation between the EU and Việt Nam.

He said: “The EU is the long-time trusted friend and partner of Việt Nam. We are in a unique position to bring our special added values for the realisation of Việt Nam’s ambition to be an advanced economy by 2045 and a net zero emitter by 2050.”

“The Indo Pacific region is increasingly central to the world. The EU has developed an Indo Pacific strategy to engage more in this region and Việt Nam has a particular economic, demographic, geopolitical weight in the region, therefore it is for us a key partner in the region.”

“What I want to do here in the next few years is to continue and support more Việt Nam’s ambition to be an advanced economy in 2045 and a net-zero emitter by 2050,” he said.

He said the EU not only has the ambition to support Việt Nam but also has concrete instruments to help Việt Nam achieve the ambition.

The first instrument he mentioned is the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement which has been extremely effective so far to help increase the bilateral trade flow.

He cited 32 per cent of trade flow increase between the EU and Việt Nam last year as an example of fruitful economic cooperation.

Việt Nam’s exports to the EU were four times higher than EU exports to Việt Nam, he said.

The second instrument is infrastructure. On the path to accompany Việt Nam’s economic growth, the EU will support Việt Nam in infrastructure in transport, energy, health, education and digital transformation.

The EU has a 300 billion EUR fund in infrastructure called ‘Global gateway’ strategy for Việt Nam and the rest of the world in building infrastructure in a financially sustainable, socially sustainable, environmentally sustainable way, the ambassador said.

He said the EU will also support Việt Nam to transition from coal to renewable energy during the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), which he called the third instrument.

“We have invested US$15.5 billion in Việt Nam to support this green transition”, he said.

The EU also has Horizon Europe funding programme with over $100 billion for research and innovation which is open to the world and for the participation of Vietnamese research institutes.

“Việt Nam has excellent researchers, innovators and I want to encourage them to participate in Horizon Europe and exchange, share knowledge, skills and technologies,” he told the press about the fourth instrument.

The last instrument is security and defence cooperation.

Within the Enhancing Security Cooperation In and With Asia (ESIWA) programme, the EU will help Việt Nam enhance capacity in maritime security, cyber security and other fields.

People-to-people exchange

Ambassador Julien Guerrier said during his meeting with State President Võ Văn Thưởng on Tuesday to present his credentials, the two discussed common objectives and how to bring into full play these five instruments.

The ambassador expressed his impression over the beautiful motto of Việt Nam: Independence, Freedom and Happiness.

“I think this encompasses the joint aspiration of the EU and Vietnamese people. The partnership can help us achieve goals, objectives that are mentioned in the beautiful motto,” he said.

He said the EU wants to have more people to people exchange between Europe and Việt Nam.

“We want to encourage Vietnamese students to visit and study in Europe. Many Vietnamese students and graduates have chosen Europe for their study over the past years.

“The EU offers the Erasmus Mundus, the largest master’s and doctoral scholarship programme in Europe, and many young Vietnamese have received these scholarships,” he said, adding that the “Study in Europe” event, scheduled for October 1 in HCM City and October 7 in Hà Nội, will provide valuable information about life and education in Europe.

Viet Nam News