Argentine President Mauricio Macri (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Argentine President Mauricio Macri’s State visitto Vietnam from February 19-21 will be a chance for the two countries toenhance cooperation in trade and investment, with a hope to deepen thebilateral strategic partnership.
The visit also demonstrates the importance of Vietnam in Argentina’s externalpolicy towards Asia in general and Southeast Asia in particular, especiallyafter the Latin American nation signed Treaty of Amity and Cooperation inSoutheast Asia (TAC) in August 2018.
Vietnam and Argentinaestablished their diplomatic ties on October 25, 1973. Since then, both sideshave organised regular delegation exchanges. Last year, they successfully helda lot of activities to mark the 45th anniversary of their diplomaticrelations.
Over the past years,the countries have established numerous mechanisms to boost multi-facetedcooperation. They have also signed various cooperation agreements, includingthose on investment encouragement and protection, economic-trade cooperation,scientific-technological cooperation, cultural-educational cooperation andcollaboration in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Vietnam and Argentinahave also supported each other and coordinated effectively at multilateralforums such as the United Nations (UN), the World Trade Organisation, the Forumfor East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), and the South-SouthCooperation within the UN framework.
Vietnamese Ambassadorto Argentina Dang Xuan Dung said that despite complicated developments in theworld’s and regions’ situations, the bilateral relations, especially in trade,continue to develop well.
Two-way tradeincreased from 1.4 billion USD in 2013 to 2.9 billion USD last year - thehighest figure between Argentina and any Southeast Asian country. With thisresult, Argentina became Vietnam’s second largest trade partner in LatinAmerica, while Vietnam is its fifth biggest import market globally. The twosides are working to raise the bilateral trade to 5 billion USD as soon aspossible.
Currently, the LatinAmerican nation is running four investment projects in Vietnam, ranking 106th among the 129 nations and territories pouring capital into the Southeast Asiancountry.
Collaboration intourism, culture and education between Vietnam and Argentina is also developingrapidly, reflected through exchanges between their universities and arttroupes. Each year, Vietnam welcomes around 10,000 Argentine tourists.-VNA
VNA
