| Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm (right) meets with ADB President Masato Kanda in Manila on May 31. VNA/VNS Photo | MANILA General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee and President of Việt Nam Tô Lâm met with representatives of some organisations and businesses in the Philippines on May 31 afternoon, part of his state visit to the archipelagic nation. Talking to President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Masato Kanda, General Secretary and President Lâm affirmed that Việt Nam attaches importance to its cooperation with the bank and wishes to further deepen this partnership in the new development phase. Noting that Việt Nam and the ADB boast a long-standing, reliable, and effective development partnership through financial support, expertise sharing, and policy assistance, he expressed his hope that the ADB will continue to help Việt Nam with promoting sustainable economic growth, enhancing the competitiveness of the economy, strengthening its resilience to global challenges, and gradually realising the long-term development goals. He hailed the ADB's initiatives in such areas as energy connectivity, capital market development, digital economy integration, green transition and finance, which match the development needs of ASEAN in general and Việt Nam in particular, thus supplementing resources, knowledge, and international experience for more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth. Việt Nam is committed to closely coordinating with, creating favourable conditions for, and maintaining regular discussions with the ADB to promote the effective implementation of cooperation ideas in the coming period, the top leader stated. Lauding the cooperative relationship with Việt Nam over the past 30 years, the ADB President affirmed that Việt Nam is an important development partner, and expressed admiration for its recent socio-economic achievements as well as future development goals. Kanda underlined the ADB’s continued commitment to supporting Việt Nam to