(VOVworld)- President Tran Dai Quang has highlighted special milestones in the Vietnamese-French relationship in an interview with AFP ahead of French President Francois Hollande’s upcoming visit to Vietnam from September 5 to 9.

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang

President Quang said the bilateral relationship was of special significance because it is a relationship between two nations that have historic ties and between a leading European country with a dynamic developing Asian country. Over the years, bilateral friendship and cooperation have been strengthened. The President said one of the most important milestones in ties was the signing of a Joint Statement on establishing the Vietnam-France strategic Partnership in 2003. In recent years, bilateral cooperation has reaped fruitful results in the fields of politics, external relations, economics, trade, investment, science, technology, culture, and education. France is Vietnam’s 5^th largest European trade partner and one of Vietnam’s top ODA donors. Two-way trade between Vietnam and France reached 4.2 billion USD last year. The two countries have strengthened cooperation in various fields including science, technology, health care, education and national defense. President Quang said Vietnam hopes and is ready to enhance cooperation with other countries including France for peace, stability and mutual benefit. He called for strengthened mutual support in UN peacekeeping operations and further cooperation in ensuring security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation, cyber security and non-traditional security. The Vietnamese President said Vietnam supported France to play an active and constructive role so that the two countries can contribute to promoting and protecting the common interests of the international community.