Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) receives President of Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse in Hanoi on July 16 (Photo: VNA)

The Ile-de-France delegation has been on a visit to the capital city of Hanoi to attend the celebration of 30 years of cooperative ties between the two localities. At the meeting, Minh noted with satisfaction that the Vietnam-France strategic partnership is growing well in all spheres. The Deputy PM highly valued the development of economic ties between the two countries with bilateral trade topping 5 billion EUR each year.  He added locality-to-locality cooperation and people-to-people exchange have helped intensify the strategic partnership, matching the interests and demand of both nations. Minh asked Pécresse to help accelerate the European Union (EU) and French parliaments' ratification of the free trade agreement and the investment protection agreement that Vietnam and the EU signed in late June so as to soon bring about practical benefits to both sides. Pécresse said the cooperation between Hanoi and Ile-de-France is a model for Vietnamese and French localities to follow. During their stay in Hanoi, the French delegation took part in the opening ceremony of an air quality monitoring station at the French Embassy, a workshop on cities and innovation, and the signing ceremony of cooperation documents between the two localities.