Vietnam asks for EU’s stronger support in cyber security protection

Minister of Public Security General To Lam met with Gunnar Wiegand, Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service (EEAS), in Hanoi on April 28, asking for further support from the EU in cyber security protection.

An overview of the meeting

Lam highlighted the strong growth of the EU-Vietnam partnership across all fields, especially since the two sides set up their bilateral comprehensive cooperative partnership in 2016 and put the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) into use last August.

The deal has turned Vietnam into the EU’s leading trade partner among the ASEAN countries and one of the Asian countries that the EU has shared partnership with in all fields, including security and law enforcement, he noted.

The minister highlighted that in the field of cyber security, the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the EU have enjoyed close collaboration with the regular organisation of conferences, training, online meetings, consultations and the exchange of expertise.

He underlined that the ministry recognises and highly values the support and positive cooperation, dialogue and experience sharing from the EU in building and implementing laws related to cyber security.

Lam said that during the building of the Law on Cyber Security and related decrees, Vietnam has received consultations and experience sharing from the EU in protection of personal data, he added.

The official proposed that in the time to come, the EU will continue to share its experience with Vietnam in ensuring cyber security for major information infrastructure works as well as managing trans-border data and protecting data in important sectors, while increasing discussions and engagement in building and completing national legal framework regarding cyber security, national sovereignty in cyber space and cyber war, as well as introducing and transferring technologies, equipment, supporting tools for cyber security protection, and cyber and high-tech criminal prevention and combat.

Regarding the EU-initiated Enhancing Security Cooperation in and with Asia (ESIWA) programme, Lam underlined that the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security highly values the outcomes of the EU-funded projects within the framework of the programme in the 2014-2020 period, adding the projects have made positive contributions to the economic development in Vietnam, making the Vietnam-EU comparative partnership deeper and more practical.

He suggested that the EU increase cooperation with Vietnam within the ESIWA Programme, especially in cyber security, maritime security, anti-terrorism and crisis management, and proposed the organisation of detail discussions to sketch out specific activities to meet the demands of all sides.

For his part, Wiegand said that the growing ties between the EU and Vietnam has not limited in economy, trade and investment but expanded to strategic areas of politics, diplomacy and security.

The official affirmed that he will continue to work hard to reinforce and further lift up the EU-Vietnam partnership./.

VNA