Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung received newly-appointed Austrian ambassador Georg Heindl in Hanoi on September 28.

PM Dung affirmed that favourable conditions would be given to ambassador Heindl to help him successfully fulfil his important responsibility in Vietnam , contributing to boosting bilateral cooperation in all fields.

PM Dung expressed his pleasure at the development of cooperation between Vietnam and Austria , especially in economy, trade, investment, official development assistance and education and training.

The PM also spoke highly of the cooperation between the two sides in various forums of the United Nations’ Security Council as well as their joint commitments to implement the goal of “nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament”.

PM Dung asked Austrian ambassador Heindl to coordinate with Vietnamese ministries and relevant agencies to push forward bilateral cooperation in investment and trade. He also expressed his desire that Austria would continue to increase its ODA to Vietnam as well as its scholarships for Vietnamese students to study in Austria .

For his part, Austrian ambassador Heindl said cooperation between the two nations has developed both in scope and depth. Vietnam is expected to take the rotating Presidency of the UN Security Council for the second time in October this year, while Austria will do so in November, creating an opportunity for the two sides to boost collaboration in the international arena.

The ambassador added that the Bank of Austria has provided 140 million EUR (205 million USD) to projects in Vietnam and it plans to provide another package of 400 million EUR in future.

On the same day, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Anh Tuan received Austrian ambassador Heindl. The Minister expressed his hope that cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism between the two nations would develop more deeply.

Ambassador Heindl promised that he would make his best efforts to boost cultural and tourism cooperate between his country and Vietnam . The ambassador also revealed some activities which will be deployed in Vietnam by the year’s end, including the organisation of the European Music Festival and the translation and publication of Austrian literary works./.