ANN/VIET NAM NEWS – Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chính expressed his hope to advance relations between Vietnam and AstraZeneca PLC, towards strategic cooperation in vaccine and drug production. He was speaking during a reception for the company’s CEO Pascal Soriot in Hanoi on Tuesday.
Welcoming Soriot’s return to Vietnam after 25 years, Chính attributed Vietnam’s achievements in the COVID-19 fight and economic development to practical contributions by many countries and organisations, including AstraZeneca who quickly supplied its vaccine to Vietnam with incentives.
The prime minister told Soriot that thanks to vaccines, medicines, technologies and public awareness campaigns, Vietnam has brought the pandemic under control and reopened its border from March 15.
He also shared Vietnam’s experience in social distancing, testing and treatment during the pandemic fight, and noted that the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam’s last month reflected the region’s ‘successes’ in pandemic containment.
In reply, Soriot said his visit is intended to deepen the relations between the group and Vietnam, expressing his admiration and impression on the country’s efforts to fulfil its dual goals of pandemic containment and economic development, which, he emphasised, demonstrate the leadership and management capacity of the Vietnamese government.
As one of the three leading groups globally in the research and treatment of cancer and cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, AstraZeneca wishes to expand its presence in Vietnam, closely cooperate with the Vietnamese government to improve the country’s medical capacity and develop its pharmaceutical industry, and stands ready to transfer vaccine production technology to Vietnam, he said.
Praising AstraZeneca’s decision to invest USD90 million in pharmaceutical production in Vietnam, Chính said the group’s development strategy completely matches Vietnam’s vision and mindset on protecting public health and sustainable development.
He called on the group to share its experience in management and personnel training, and support Vietnam to fulfil its goals of gas emissions reduction as announced at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in the United Kingdom last year.
Soriot pledged that AstraZeneca will make more investment to help Vietnam in medical capacity improvement and personnel training.
