Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s working trips to France and the United Nations, especially his speech at the UN General Assembly, have left a fine impression on the international community. World leaders congratulate PM Dung's peace message at the UN General Assembly (Photo:VGP) His historic visit to France marked a milestone in bilateral relations when both countries released a joint statement on establishing the strategic partnership. The partnership built on strategic trust will help Vietnam and France strengthen multifaceted cooperation, especially in prioritised areas of politics-diplomacy, security-national defence, economics-trade-investment, development cooperation, culture, education-training, scientific research, and environmental protection. After France, PM Dung flew to the United States for the general debate of the 68th UN General Assembly where he delivered a keynote speech, expressing humankind’s desire to live in a world free from war and hunger. According to Dung, war, peace, development, hunger and poverty are global burning issues, requiring all countries to have strategic trust and join hands to address them. He voiced Vietnam’s support for all global peace initiatives and commitment to joining peace keeping operations as a responsible member of the UN. Within less than 24 hours in the US, PM Dung travelled between New York and Washington DC to meet leaders of the two world’s largest financial institutions – the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the UN and its agencies, senior US officials and government leaders of other countries. The WB, IMF, UN, US and other countries spoke highly of Vietnam’s achievements in socio-economic development, poverty reduction, Millennium Development Goal (MDG) realisation, as well as its contributions to the international community. They all pledged to work close together with Vietnam to successfully implement MDGs. VOV