Hanoi (VNA) - Party General Secretary To Lam hosted a reception in Hanoi on May 28 for Hungarian President Sulyok Tamás who is paying an official visit to Vietnam from May 27-29.
General Secretary Lam welcomed President Sulyok’s visit, which coincides with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Hungary (1950–2025), injecting fresh momentum into bilateral ties.
The Party chief expressed gratitude for Hungary’s support during Vietnam’s past struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as in its ongoing development. He underlined the special bond between the two nations and reaffirmed that Vietnam regards Hungary as a top priority partner in Central and Eastern Europe. Vietnam, he added, is ready to serve as a bridge between Hungary and Southeast Asia and sees Hungary as a vital gateway for enhancing ties with Central and Eastern Europe and the EU.
Praising Hungary’s achievements in socio-economic development and European integration, the Party chief noted the country’s growing prestige in the region. He also outlined Vietnam’s development vision, aiming to become a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle-income by 2030 and a high-income developed nation by 2045.
The General Secretary hailed the fruitful outcomes of President Sulyok’s talks with President Luong Cuong and the positive progress in bilateral relations.
He discussed key directions and measures for deepening bilateral traditional friendship, including leveraging existing mechanisms like the Joint Economic Committee, capitalising on the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the upcoming EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), and convening the Joint Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation at an early date.
He called for greater cooperation in innovation and suggested Hungary help train Vietnamese nuclear energy specialists.
Both sides agreed to boost cooperation in education, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, labour, culture, and locality-to-locality exchanges. They also agreed to jointly mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties throughout this year.
President Sulyok recalled his student days alongside Vietnamese friends and following Vietnam’s struggle for independence, confident in its eventual victory. He congratulated Vietnam on its remarkable reform achievements, which have raised its capacity and international standing, and voiced his belief that Vietnam will continue to achieve more successes and advance to a new development era.
President Sulyok reaffirmed that Hungary attaches great importance to the longstanding friendship with Vietnam and sees Vietnam as a key partner in Southeast Asia.
He highlighted that cooperation between Hungary’s ruling Fidesz Party and the Communist Party of Vietnam is a vital channel for strengthening bilateral ties. The Hungarian President expressed his delight at the recent progress in relations between the two countries, especially since the establishment of their comprehensive partnership in 2018.
The two leaders agreed to enhance political trust and connections between their countries and ruling parties, expand high-level and sectoral exchanges, and strengthen cooperation in trade, investment, science, technology, innovation, and education.
They emphasised the need to make defence-security a new pillar of cooperation and to increase people-to-people exchanges to deepen mutual understanding.
President Sulyok also recognised the Vietnamese community and students in Hungary as an important force contributing to the host country’s socio-economic development.
The two sides committed to continued close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, particularly the UN and ASEAN–EU framework, and reiterated support for peaceful settlement of disputes in line with international law to help maintain peace, stability, and security in the region and globally./.
