Sang to take centre stage during visits

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) last week said Sang would attend the “Integrate to Grow, Innovate to Prosper”-themed summit (APEC 20) in Russia’s Vladivostok from September 8-9.
The MoFA said Vietnam’s APEC 20 participation was greatly important to its economic restructuring and growth model renewal. “It is because APEC 20’s all cooperation agenda was suitable to Vietnam as it deals with regional economic integration, food and water resource security and cope with natural calamities,” the ministry stated in a press meeting.

The state president will attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and make the first speech at this event’s second retreat meeting on food security. He will also be a key speaker making the first speech at the plenary meeting of the APEC CEO Summit themed “Water: the new global strategic resource”. These are the most important meetings within APEC 20.

“This means that Vietnam’s status in APEC is becoming bigger. State President Truong Tan Sang will also have many talks and meetings with member economies’ leaders to sharpen Vietnam’s  relationship with those economies,” said Nguyen Nguyet Nga, head of the MoFA’s Multilateral Economic Affairs Department.

Sang will also meet with Russia’s leaders to discuss solutions to sharpen the Vietnam-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership forged in July, 2012 when he officially visited this nation.
Notably, during the event, negotiations of a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Tariff Alliance (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) will start. The negotiations are expected to take three years.

APEC 20 focuses prioritised discussions and cooperation solutions on trade and investment liberalisation, regional economic integration, strengthening food security, establishing reliable supply chains and intensive cooperation to foster innovative growth.

APEC 20 will cover APEC Youth Festival, APEC 2012 Leaders’ Week, Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting, APEC Business Advisory Council Meeting, APEC Ministerial Meeting, APEC CEO Summit and APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.

APEC has 21 member economies, occupying 59 per cent of the world’s population and over 50 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and 57 per cent of the global trade.

After attending APEC 20, Sang will visit Kazakhstan from September 10-11. “Sixty per cent of this visit’s purpose is to strengthen oil and gas cooperation with Kazakhstan,” said Nguyen Minh Tri, vice head of the MoFA’s European Affairs Department.

The Vietnamese state president will hold talks with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and meet with Prime Minister Karim Massimov, Senate Chairman Kairat Mami and Majilis Chairman Nurlan Nigmatulin.

The two sides will clinch a phytosanitary cooperation agreement, a banking cooperation agreement, an agreement on opening a direct air route between Vietnam and Kazakhstan, and a cooperation agreement between Hanoi and Kazakhstan’s Astana capital.