Vietnam holds a special position in Romania’s external policy and is its leading trade partner in ASEAN, Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam Valeriu Arteni has affirmed.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark Romania’s 95th National Day in Ho Chi Minh City on December 1, the diplomat noted that his government is implementing a policy of multilateralisation and diversification, with special attention given to traditional friends.

The Romanian Economic Ministry has decided to re-open the embassy’s economic-trade counsellor office in Hanoi, he said, adding that Romania is one of few European countries applying visa exemption to Vietnamese diplomatic and official passport holders.

Romania’s membership in the European Union (EU) and Vietnam’s effective cooperation with the EU have helped consolidate the traditional ties between the two countries, said the ambassador.

He also voiced support of Vietnam’s policy to further tighten relations with the EU, sign an FTA with the union and soon ratify the EU-Vietnam partnership cooperation agreement at an early date.

For his part, head of the liaison committee for Vietnamese alumni in Romania in HCM City Nguyen Si Thang said the European country has helped train nearly 4,000 Vietnamese officials, postgraduates and students. The all-sided cooperation between the two nations has well developed, he added.

Currently, about 1,000 Vietnamese people are living in Romania, while nearly 800 Romanians are working in Vietnam.-VNA