Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President To Lam meets with General Secretary and President of Laos, Thongloun Sisoulith on the sidelines of the 19th Francophonie Summit (Photo: VNA)

At a meeting with General Secretary and President of Laos, Thongloun Sisoulith, General Secretary and President To Lam reflected on the positive outcomes of Thongloun Sisoulith's recent State visit to Vietnam and the annual meeting between the Politburos of both countries held in September.

Both leaders commended the ongoing coordination between the ministries, departments, and localities of Vietnam and Laos in implementing the key strategic directions agreed by the two countries' Politburos, including advancing several significant projects. They reaffirmed their commitment to closely overseeing the relevant agencies to ensure the effective implementation of high-level agreements, cooperation programs between the two Parties, the two nations, and existing bilateral mechanisms.

Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President To Lam meets with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni on the sidelines of the 19th Francophonie Summit (Photo: VNA)

Meeting with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, Lam congratulated Cambodia on its selection as the host of the 20th Francophonie Summit in 2026. The two leaders expressed their delight at the good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, time-honoured, and sustainable and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries over the past time. They also said they hope that generations of the two countries will continue nurturing and promoting the bilateral relations in accordance with their requirements in the new development period.

Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President To Lam meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the 19th Francophonie Summit (Photo: VNA)

Talking to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Lam congratulated Canada on assuming the presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) and affirmed that Vietnam will keep working with Canada and other G7 countries to contribute to this bloc’s cooperation contents, including green growth and sustainable development.

Agreeing with Lam’s suggestions, Trudeau said his country treasures its relations with Vietnam and will continue bolstering their comprehensive partnership in priority areas, especially politics - diplomacy, economy - trade, national defence, education - training, and people-to-people exchange. It will maintain assistance for Vietnam to engage in UN peacekeeping operations.

At the meeting with the Belgian PM, the Vietnamese General Secretary and President called on Belgium to soon finalise the ratification of the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and advocate the European Commission’s early removal of the “yellow card” warning over illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing for Vietnam’s seafood export. He suggested reinforcing collaboration in the fields of renewable energy, logistics services, high technology, artificial intelligence, green development, education - training, and cultural exchange, while working together to capitalise on the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Party General Secretary and State President To Lam had a meeting with President of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, who is currently the Chairperson of the African Union (AU), in Paris on Saturday.

Lam hailed the role of Mauritania as the Chair of the AU, and thanked the AU for creating favourable conditions for Vietnam to finalise procedures to become an official observer of the AU from December 2023.

For his part, Ghazouani congratulated Vietnam on the country's achievements so far, regarding Vietnam as a success example for African countries, including Mauritania. He expressed his belief that Vietnam will be an active bridge for AU-ASEAN cooperation.

At a meeting with Secretary General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF) Louise Mushikiwabo, Lam asked for OIF to accelerate tripartite cooperation models to support African countries in agriculture and South-South collaboration, while continuing to step up the implementation of cooperation programmes and projects in education, French language teaching, and scientific research and startup in French.

He also urged the OIF to continue backing ASEAN’s efforts in maintaining peace, security and stability in the region, including the East Sea, and supporting the settlement of disputes via peaceful means on the basis of respecting international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.