Before entering talks with PM Dũng, EC President José Manuel Barroso and his entourage paid tribute to President Hồ Chí Minh and laid wreaths at the Memorial of Heroes and Martyrs.

At the talks, PM Dũng affirmed that Việt Nam always considers the EU the leading partner in its diplomatic policies. The Government chief asked the EU and the EC to continue their supports and assistance to Việt Nam, recognize Việt Nam as a market economy, lift trade barriers for Vietnamese exports to the EU, assist Việt Nam in food safety and hygiene, and grant the country the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in the period of 2009–2013.

President José Manuel Barroso highly praised the Vietnamese Government’s approval of the Overall Plan and the Program of Action on developing the relationship with the EU. The guest also expressed his confidence in the good prospects for the Việt Nam-EU cooperation and partnership. He revealed that, during the period of 2007–2013, the EU will fund Việt Nam €304 million to promote socio-economic, health and educational development.

PM Dũng and President José Manuel Barroso thoroughly discussed and reached a consensus on orientations and measures to bring the bilateral relationship to a new plane by establishing the regular dialogue mechanisms between the Vietnamese PM and the EC President as well as between the Vietnamese Foreign Minister and the EC Commissioner for External Relations; boosting economic, trade and investment cooperation; increasing the two-way trade turnover to US $15 billion by 2010; and deepening cooperation in science and technology in order to sign a cooperation agreement in this field.

PM Dũng and President José Manuel Barroso also mentioned some regional and international issues of common concern.

After the talks, the two leaders had a press briefing at which they announced the kick-off of the negotiation process for the Việt Nam-EC Partnership and Cooperation Agreement to lay a new and comprehensive frame for the bilateral cooperation at a new height.

By Xuân Hồng