PM’s Romania visit affirms Vietnam’s wish to promote bilateral ties: diplomat

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to Romania from January 20-22 affirms Vietnam’s wish to continue promoting and deepening its traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with the European country, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Romania Do Duc Thanh.

The visit at the beginning of a new year, made at an invitation of PM Ion-Marcel Ciolacu, will create a new driving force to promote cooperation between the two countries in many fields, the ambassador told the Vietnam News Agency.

During his trip, Chinh will discuss with his counterpart and other leaders of Romania measures to boost bilateral cooperation, especially in fields deemed to have potential for collaboration, and step up the exchange of all-level delegations, effectively implement agreements reached at the 17th meeting of the inter-governmental committee on economic cooperation in Hanoi last November, and promote trade and investment partnership in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, production of medical equipment, and energy.

PM Chinh will attend the Vietnam-Romania Business Forum with his Romanian counterpart, meet the business community, witness the signing of cooperation documents, visit several economic establishments, schools and research institutes, and meet some Romanian friends and the Vietnamese community there.

The ambassador said that over the past 74 years, political and diplomatic relations between the two countries have been continuously enhanced through high-level visits of the two countries’ leaders, as well as recent high-level meetings between Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis and PM Chinh on the occasion of attending the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly in September 2023, and the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit in December 2022.

Trade cooperation has developed remarkably in recent years, with two-way trade turnover increasing from 261 million USD in 2019 to 425 million USD in 2022.

Romania is a traditional partner of Vietnam in Southeast Europe and a gateway for Vietnam to penetrate the markets of EU countries and the Western Balkans. Romania is also one of the first countries to ratify both the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), Thanh said.

He advised businesses from both countries to be well prepared to take advantage of opportunities brought about by tariff reductions according to the roadmap set out by EVFTA./.