France to gift Vietnam 1.37 mln more Covid vaccines

The announcement was made during talks between French Prime Minister Jean Castex and his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh, in Paris on Wednesday, the first event in the visiting leader’s schedule in France, according to a statement by Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The additional pledge includes 970,000 doses through Covax and 400,000 doses through the bilateral channel.

In September Vietnam had received 1.48 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from France.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and French PM Jean Castex at their meeting in Paris on November 3. Photo by Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnamese leader thanked the French government for its assistance for Vietnam in the fight against Covid, and hoped France would continue to help train human resources in healthcare, transfer vaccine technology and share its experiences in coping with the pandemic.

Vietnam's strategy is to speed up vaccination and strengthen measures to revive the economy, he said.

At the recent COP26 hosted by the U.K., Vietnam had committed to implement various programs, including under the Paris Agreement, to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, and hoped to receive assistance from developed countries like France in this effort, he said.

Referring to international issues like the East Sea dispute, the two leaders emphasized that countries need to contribute to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity, ensuring security, safety, freedom of navigation and overflight, and peacefully settling international disputes on the basis of compliance with international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.

Castex thanked Vietnam for its support to France for becoming ASEAN's development partner.