Hanoi (VNA) – The official visit to Vietnam by Hungarian President Sulyok Tamas and his spouse is expected to open up new cooperation opportunities for the two countries.
The May 27-29 visit, made at the invitation of State President Luong Cuong, is the first to Vietnam in 11 years by a Hungarian head of state. It takes place in the year when the two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations (February 3, 1950 - 2025).
75 years of trusted, close relationship
Despite the geographical distance, Vietnam and Hungary share many commonalities in their fighting spirit and resilience in overcoming the hardships of war for national independence.
In the cause of Vietnam’s national liberation and construction, the State and people of Hungary have given the Vietnamese people valuable support, both materially and spiritually. In the movement "We are with you, Vietnam!", Hungary organised many blood donation drives and other donations to help the Vietnamese people as well as participated in the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) for the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Vietnam.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the friendship and cooperation between the two countries have been flourishing in many fields including education and training, law and justice, culture, sports, and people-to-people exchanges.
Hungary always considers Vietnam an important partner in the Southeast Asian region. The two countries became comprehensive partners in September 2018.
In recent years, the political-diplomatic relations between the two countries have been strengthened on the basis of mutual trust and understanding, creating a solid foundation for promoting bilateral relations. Exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones, have taken place through all channels of the Party, Government, National Assembly, and localities.
The Vietnam-Hungary Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation has maintained regular meetings, with the first taking place in Budapest in December 2005, and the 10th expected to be held in Hanoi in July 2025.
Vietnam and Hungary have also cooperated closely and effectively, as well as support each other at multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations and within the framework of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
The Hungarian Government supported Vietnam to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term. At the same time, Hungary has supported and promoted comprehensive relations between Vietnam and the EU, including the signing, ratification and full implementation of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
Vietnam backed Hungary's membership in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the 2011-2013 term under the rotation mechanism of the Eastern European Group. In addition, within the framework of ASEM, Vietnam has supported Hungary's initiative on the role of water resources in the regional sustainable development strategy. It is also ready to support Hungary in strengthening cooperation with ASEAN and the bloc's member countries.
Effective cooperation in many fields
The trustworthy political relationship between the two countries is the basic foundation for promoting other relations, especially economic and trade. Hungary has actively promoted the ratification of the EVFTA and is the first EU member state to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
With the advantages of EVFTA, the two countries’ trade has witnessed remarkable progress, reaching 1.1 billion USD in 2021, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It increased to more than 1.2 billion USD in 2022; but then dropped to 0.85 billion USD in 2023, and 0.93 billion USD in 2024.
Vietnam exports to Hungary mostly electronic components, machinery, equipment, spare parts, means of transport and spare parts, fabrics, metals and products, and coffee while importing from Hungary machinery, equipment, spare parts, and pharmaceuticals.
The two countries agreed to promote bilateral economic, trade and investment relations, take advantage of opportunities brought about by the EVFTA, and strive to increase two-way trade turnover by 10% yearly.
Regarding to investment, as of May 2025, Hungary ranked 52nd out of 149 countries and territories investing directly in Vietnam with 21 projects, with a total registered capital of 50.66 million USD.
In the Central Eastern Europe region, Hungary is the country that provides the most preferential credit to Vietnam, mainly focusing on electronic population management and clean water supply projects.
Education and training is a traditional area of cooperation between the two countries. Hungary has helped train more than 4,000 PhDs, masters, and engineers for Vietnam. Hungary is currently the country that provides the most scholarships to Vietnamese students in the Central Eastern Europe region. Since 2018, the Hungarian Government has increased the number of scholarships for Vietnam to 200 per year at all training levels and in areas where Hungary has strengths such as medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, technology, information technology, economics, law, and music.
The two countries have kept promoting cooperation in other traditional areas such as culture, sports, tourism, labour, science and technology, environmental resources, agriculture, and water management.
The two sides agreed to expand cooperation in new areas such as circular economy, innovation, green finance, renewable energy, and digital transformation.
The Hungary-Vietnam Friendship Association plays an active role in promoting the friendship between the people of the two countries and promoting Vietnam in Hungary.
The 6,000-strong Vietnamese community in Hungary is said to be a united, honest and deeply integrated into the host society, making contributions to the host country and to the traditional and good friendship between Vietnam and Hungary.
On the basis of the good relationship over the past 75 years, the official visit to Vietnam by Hungarian President Sulyok Tamas and his spouse this time demonstrates the respect, role and prestige of Vietnam in the region and the world, and the desire of the two countries to promote the Vietnam-Hungary Comprehensive Partnership.
Through the visit, the two countries’s traditional cooperation is expected to be deepened while the new ones will be promoted./.
