(VOV) – Vietnam has always attached importance to boosting cooperation with France, Vietnam’s leading partner in politics, economics, trade and investment, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said while visiting France at the invitation of his French counterpart Laurent Fabius.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and his French counterpart Laurent Fabius         Source: tgvn.com.vn

Mr. Minh has paid courtesy visits to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, met with President of the French Senate Jean-Pierre Bel and French National Assembly Speaker Claude Bartolonea, and held talks with Fabius. Minh and Fabius discussed measures to promote bilateral ties and a number of world and regional issues of mutual concern. They also issued a joint statement pledging to raise bilateral relations to a strategic partnership to boost cooperation in all areas. In the framework of the visit, Minister Minh chaired a ceremony Vietnamese embassy in France on Wednesday to mark the 40^th anniversary of Vietnam – France diplomatic ties.