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Chirac calls on Vietnam to be "audacious" in reforms

PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac called on Vietnam to be "ever more audacious" in its reforms at a gala dinner given at the Elysee Palace late Monday for Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong. Luong earlier Monday kicked off a four-day state visit to France aimed at boosting commercial ties with Hanoi's former colonial master and leading European investor.

"Globalization imposes everywhere a modernization of society and institutions," Chirac said in a toast. "This sums up efforts made by Vietnam in opening up to the world, in modernizing its society, in calling for more individual initiative and in mobilizing its numerous, talented young people." "One must be ever more audacious," Chirac insisted.

As he had done earlier during two hours of talks with Luong, Chirac called for a strengthening of the partnership between Paris and Hanoi and said France backed Vietnam's candidature for the World Trade Organization.

The dinner was attended by Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and several other ministers, as well as leading industrialists. At his meeting with Luong, Chirac called North Korea's nuclear weapons program "a serious problem" for Southeast Asia, and said "a strong reaction" was needed to address the situation, his spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said.

It is the first official visit to France by a Vietnamese head of state since former president and Communist Party founding father Ho Chi Minh travelled to Paris in 1946. Luong's talks with Chirac and Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin were expected to focus on bilateral economic and trade relations, as well as efforts to promote regional dialogue between Europe and Asia, according to diplomatic sources.

Also on the agenda will be the purchase by Vietnam Airlines of five A-321 Airbus aircraft. The state-owned carrier is expected to sign the 213 million dollar (euro) deal soon. "President Luong's visit marks an important step in the development of the Franco-Vietnamese partnership," said French deputy foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.

France is the top non-Asian investor in Vietnam, with total investments of more than two billion euros (dollars), according to Vietnamese figures, making it the sixth largest investor in the country. Last year, trade between Vietnam and France reached more than 1.1 billion euros (dollars).

France is Vietnam's second-largest development partner after Japan, with aid totalling 72 million euros in 2001. The emotional issue of the adoption of Vietnamese children by French couples was also expected to figure in the discussions between Luong and Chirac, diplomats said. French couples have adopted about half the Vietnamese babies who have found homes with foreign families since the early 1990s. Nearly 6,000 Vietnamese infants were adopted by French parents between 1995 and 1999 alone.

However, Paris banned the adoption of Vietnamese children in April 1999 after it was revealed that some "orphans" had living parents who were duped into thinking their offspring would return home after a short holiday. Paris and Hanoi signed an agreement in February 2000 to resume adoptions, but they did not begin again until July last year. Luong is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Raffarin, National Assembly speaker Jean-Louis Debre, Senate leader Christian Poncelet and business leaders in both Paris and central-eastern Lyon during his stay.

His trip to France comes after a flurry of state visits to Iran, Namibia, Congo and Angola following his participation earlier this month in the ninth summit of French-speaking nations in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Agence France Presse - October 29, 2002


President Luong visits France to bolster relations

HO CHI MINH CITY - Vietnam's President Tran Duc Luong left Congo for France yesterday for an official four-day visit at the invitation of French counterpart Jacques Chirac, and the two leaders entered official talks in Paris upon Luong's arrival.

Luong's visit to France is the first by a Vietnamese head of state to the European country since the two sides established diplomatic relations in 1973. Late French President Francois Mitterrand and President Jacques Chirac paid official visits to Vietnam in 1993 and 1997, respectively.

Official announcement from the French General Consulate at a press conference last night said the two men were to discuss various cooperative aspects, ranging from France's support for Vietnam to enter the World Trade Organization, numerous bilateral trade and investment commitments, and the establishment of a French university in Vietnam to the issue of adopted children. International issues of mutual concern were also to be tabled at the high-ranking meeting. An announcement by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Luong's visit is an important landmark in the development of France-Vietnam partnership relations. The visit will also help strengthen relations between localities and business circles of the two countries, it says.

Apart from the official talks with the French president, Luong is scheduled to have meetings with top French officials and businesses. France has maintained close links with Vietnam in various fields, especially in trade and investment.

The French General Consulate said yesterday France was currently the biggest European investor in Vietnam, with US $ 2 billion pledged via 200 projects. It also is one of Vietnam's biggest trading partners. Two-way trade last year was worth US $ 1.135 billion, with Vietnam enjoying a trade surplus of over US $ 500 million.

By lan Anh - The Saigon Time Daily - October 29, 2002