Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the request while attending a session on international integration and external economic tasks in Hanoi on Dec. 14 as part of the 27 th Diplomatic Conference from Dec. 12-19.

The PM asked the diplomatic sector to complete building a master strategy on international economic integration in the first quarter of 2012. He said the strategy should include cooperative strategies with each nation and each region as well as plans to fulfil the nation’s commitments under the WTO and signed Free Trade Agreements.

He also required the diplomatic sector to work out plans for negotiations on new free trade agreements, in order to mobilise greater resources for development.

“The sector needs to competently perform labour export and tourism tasks while expanding export markets in combination with fighting protection and dumping activities,” he said.

It should continue mobilising ODA for infrastructure, energy, human resource development and climate change adaptation, he added.

The Government leader urged the diplomatic sector to take measures to boost goods and service trading, diversify product distribution channels and take advantage of foreign resources for high-quality human resource development.

He noted that the sector should take care of the Overseas Vietnamese community, helping them promote their role as a bridge between Vietnam and their host countries.

Speaking at the event, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said that economic diplomacy has recorded great achievements as a result of close coordination and mutual support between relevant ministries and between domestic agencies and overseas representative agencies.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang proposed measures to improve the efficiency of coordination between the diplomatic and industrial and trade sectors.

He stressed the need to increase exchanges between the leaders and units of the two ministries and strengthen coordination in external economic dissemination./.