(VOVWORLD) -Vietnam is an excellent partner and is participating in and contributing across all priority areas of the UN, particularly in peacekeeping, sustainable development, climate change response, and just energy transition, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a meeting with President Luong Cuong in New York on Monday.
 President Luong Cuon receives UN Secretary-General António Guterres. (Photo: qdnd.vn) |
Guterres said he expects that emerging economies, including Vietnam as a pillar of the multipolar world, will raise their voice, representation, and role in the global governance system.
President Cuong said Vietnam advocates multilateralism and the central role of the UN in global governance and supports the UN reform process, adding that Vietnam welcomes the UN to establish headquarters and offices in Vietnam.
Both sides vowed to deepen Vietnam-UN and ASEAN-UN relations and promote ASEAN’s role in the region’s security and development architecture, including peacefully settling disputes in the East Sea in accordance with the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
At a meeting with Paraguayan President Santiago Peña Palacios, President Cuong urged Paraguay to accelerate negotiations for a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). He called on Paraguay to facilitate Vietnamese investment in Paraguay’s telecom infrastructure, technology, and digital transformation.
President Palacios expressed his wish to learn from Vietnam’s integration and development experience, saying Paraguay is ready to support an early start of Vietnam-MERCOSUR trade negotiations and wants to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam, especially in the processing, agriculture, and garment sectors.
President Cuong also met Austrian Prime Minister Christian Stocker and Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon on Monday.