The 12th Vietnam-France decentralized cooperation conference in Hanoi.
- Thursday - 20/04/2023 21:35
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On April 14th, the 12th Vietnam-France decentralized cooperation Conference, with the theme “Decentralized cooperation: The driving force for comprehensive and sustainable recovery and development after the Covid-19 pandemic”, officially held in Hanoi. The delegation of Binh Dinh province is led by Mr. Lam Hai Giang, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, together with representatives of departments, and delivered speeches at the conference's discussion session.
Attending the Conference, on the Vietnamese side, there were Mr. Dinh Tien Dung, Politburo member, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, Head of the Hanoi National Assembly delegation; members of the Party Central Committee: Tran Luu Quang, Deputy Prime Minister; Le Hoai Trung, Head of the Central Committee for External Relations; Tran Sy Thanh, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, Head of the Conference Steering Committee; Nguyen Thuy Anh, Chairman of the National Assembly's Social Committee, Chairman of the Vietnam-France Friendship Parliamentary Group at the National Assembly, Chairman of the Vietnam-France Friendship and Cooperation Association; Nguyen Thi Tuyen, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee.
On the French side, there were Mrs. Catherine Deroche, Special Envoy of the President of the French Senate, Chair of the France-Vietnamese Friendship Parliamentary Group in the French Senate, Head of the French Delegation; Mr. Jean-Paul Guihaume, Ambassador for Local Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France; Mr. Jean-Claude Dardelet, Deputy Mayor of Toulouse City, Executive Member of the Association of French Localities; Mr. Nicolas Warnery, French Ambassador in Vietnam.
Also attending, there were leaders of relevant ministries, departments and agencies; representatives of friendship associations and Vietnamese communities in France; representatives of NGOs, research institutes, universities and business communities of the two countries.
Vietnam-France decentralized cooperation (in other words, cooperation between Vietnamese and French local authorities) began in 1989 with the partnership between the City of Hanoi and the Ile-de-France Region. The first edition of the Assizes of Vietnam-France decentralized cooperation took place in Lille (France) in 1996. Over the past thirty years, this form of cooperation has continued to consolidate and develop to become the one of the finest examples of the success of the longstanding relations of friendship and cooperation forged between Vietnam-France local authorities. Today, more than thirty French local authorities at all levels combined and twenty Vietnamese localities are involved in this cooperation mechanism. The projects focus on areas suitable to the needs of the local Vietnamese and the strengths of France such as culture, language, tourism, conservation - heritage museum, water and environmental sanitation, urban planning, education, training, research, vocational training, health, sustainable development, environment, agricultural and rural development.
Vietnam-France decentralized cooperation is the most successful international cooperation at the decentralized level for both Vietnam and France, given the multiplicity of actors involved, the level of financial commitments and the scope of the cooperation. The conference takes place every 3 years under the regular and rotating exchange mechanism, which is an opportunity for localities of the two countries to meet and exchange on topics of mutual interest, also exchanging on topics of mutual interest and promote cooperation opportunities in various fields.
The 12th Vietnam-France decentralized Cooperation Conference is an opportunity to summarize and evaluate the results of the contents of cooperation between Vietnamese and French localities; exchanging difficulties and challenges and offer solutions to strengthen the promotion and implementation of policies on cooperative relations, linkages and establish mutually beneficial partnerships between localities of the two countries, contributing to part of promoting the "traditional friendship, comprehensive, long-term and reliable cooperation" relationship between Vietnam and France; strengthening existing relationships, and expand new partnerships.
With the theme "Decentralized cooperation: The driving force to promote sustainable and comprehensive recovery and development after the Covid-19 pandemic", the 12th Vietnam - France decentralized cooperation Conference focused on exchanging ideals and discussion revolves around 04 thematic sessions: (i) Sustainable Cities; (ii) Environment, water and water treatment; (iii) Culture, Heritage and Tourism; (iv) Smart Cities and Digitization. In addition, many side activities were also organized to further tighten the solidarity and exchange between localities and partners of the two countries such as: Local promotion space (with a scale of 100 - 120 booths to promote and introduce culture, tourist attractions, typical products and characteristics of Vietnamese localitiesFrance) …val "Balade en France" (with a scale of 50 booths of French - Vietnamese businesses operating in the fields of restaurants, hotels, agriculture, food, is organized in the form of fairs to introduce French agriculture, food technology and French culinary arts to the world); Vietnam - France Economic Forum; Meetings between government and government (G2G), government to business (G2B), business to business (B2B); Official reception of the Hanoi People's Committee; Art performance to welcome the Conference; Photo exhibition on Vietnam - France relations and Vietnam - France decentralized cooperation; and a program to visit inside and outside locations of Hanoi, especially locations and projects of cooperation projects between Hanoi and France such as: Museum of archeology at the World Heritage Site of Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, heritage tourist sites in Hanoi's Old Quarter (cooperatively implemented by Hanoi and Toulouse), Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, Dien Hong flower garden, conservation and restoration project of the ancient French villa 49 Tran Hung Dao (cooperatively implemented by Hanoi and Ile-de-France)…
At the discuss session on "Environment, Water and Water Treatment" co-chaired by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and Rennes city, Binh Dinh Department of Construction had a speech to introduce Binh Dinh province overview, as well as share some experiences, recommendations, and propose solutions after implementation project. Accordingly, from 2018, with the introduction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee and 02 Trade Unions (Intercommunal Union for clean water production, collection and treatment of wastewater Fontoy – Vallée de la Fensch (SEAFF) and Fensch Lorraine (SFL)) discussed and agreed to join the local cooperation program on clean water development, wastewater collection and treatment in Binh Dinh province. The local cooperation framework agreement between Binh Dinh Provincial People's Committee and 02 Trade Unions SEAFF/SFL was signed on April 18th, 2018, for 3 years (2018-2021). After 3 years of implementation, the two sides have realized that the Vietnam-France cooperation program has many rich and positive contents, so the two sides continue to extend it for the next three years from 2022-2024.
At the closing ceremony, representatives of leaders of Hanoi People's Committee and Regional Councilor of Nouvel Anquitaine presented a joint statement of the Conference. Vietnamese and French localities, within the framework of the Vietnam-France Decentralized Cooperation Conference, held in Hanoi, from April 13-16, 2023, with the theme "Local cooperation, motivation for recovery, sustainable and comprehensive development after the pandemic”, realizing that the dynamism of local cooperation between Vietnam and France is a great driving force for sustainable socio-economic and cultural development and human rights of the two countries.
Taking place in the event of celebrating 50 years of establishing diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic partnership between Vietnam and France, the 12th Conference showed the role and prestige of this cooperation mechanism, with the participation of 50 Vietnamese localities and 12 French localities, together with many public and private organizations from both sides.
The conference highlighted the partners being implemented, focusing mainly on the issues that the parties have needs, potentials and strengths such as environment, water treatment, urban planning and management, urban sustainable city, preserving and promoting the value of heritage, culture and tourism, smart city and digitalisation.
Also at the closing session, the signing ceremony of cooperation agreements between localities, including Hanoi city - Toulouse city, Yen Bai province - Val-de-Marne province, Thua Thien-Hue province - Grand Poitiers, Hue city - Rennes city took place.
