Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to IAEA (R) and Hua Liu, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation (Photo: VNA)

Vienna (VNA) – The Vietnamese mission to international organisations and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) onMarch 10 signed a Country Programme Framework (CPF) for cooperation with the agency on thesidelines of the meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors to define cooperation contents between the two sides in the2022-2027 period.

In his speech at the signing ceremony, Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to IAEA, emphasised that the CPF between Vietnam and IAEA hasspecial significance in the context that Vietnam will be the president of themeeting of member countries of the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Developmentand Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and the Pacific(RCA) in 2022 – 2023.

TheVietnamese official thanked the IAEA for its technologytransfer, equipment provision and training for Vietnam, saying that the support not only helps Vietnam improve its capacity in applying nucleartechnology for development in general, but also creates an important foundationfor the Southeast Asian nation to successfully respond to global issues such asfood security, disease, and improving the quality of agricultural products, andwater sources.

Cooperationwith the IAEA also helps Vietnam successfully build a team of experts in manyfields related to nuclear technology, and participate in more research programmesand projects hosted or initiated by the agency, Kien said.

One of Vietnam's priorities in joining the IAEA Board of Governors for the2022-2023 term is to cooperate with other members of the board to promote theIAEA's role in nuclear technology development for peaceful purposes, he stated.

Vietnamhopes that the IAEA will continue to focus on programmes to support developingcountries to accelerate the application of nuclear technology, thus helping theprocess to be carried out effectively, Kien added.

Hua Liu,IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation said Vietnam is the first country that has signed a programme framework for cooperation with the IAEA for the period 2022-2027, stressing that thisis an important document which helps the IAEA identify Vietnam's interestand needs in nuclear technology application, thereby supporting the IAEA indeveloping its annual technicalcooperation programme.

💝 Cooperationprojects with Vietnam in the 2022-2023 period, which were approved by the IAEA Board ofGovernors in November 2021, are completely consistent with the content of the 2022-2027 CPF that hasjust been signed, he said.

Liu spoke highly of Vietnam'srole in regional cooperation in nuclear technology development, especially intraining and capacity building for Laos and Cambodia through the tripartitecooperation programmes between Vietnam, the IAEA and these countries.

⭕ He expressed the hope that in its upcoming role as the RCA’s president, Vietnam will furtherpromote regional cooperation, especially in nuclear technology development andtraining in developing countries./.