Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang (R) and Croatian Ambassador to Malaysia and Vietnam Ivan Velimir Starcevic (Photo: VNA) During the meeting, the Deputy Minister and the Ambassador discussed tiesbetween Vietnam and Croatia, as well as measures to step up bilateral tiesin various fields in the coming time.
They welcomedthe positive developments in political and diplomatic relations over the pastyears, particularly the Croatia visit by Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan inOctober 2022 and the political consultations between the two foreign ministriesin March 2023, contributing to deepening substantive cooperation between thetwo nations.
The two sides agreed to jointly hold activities to celebrate the 30th anniversaryof Vietnam – Croatia diplomatic ties next year.
Hang thanked Croatiafor approving the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and supporting the early ratification of the EU-Vietnam InvestmentProtection Agreement (EVIPA) by the remaining EU member states as well as the lifting of the yellow card warning againstVietnamese aquatic products.
Starcevic briefed the host about Croatia'snew policies after the country joined theSchengen area and Eurozone in January 2023, which he said, have opened up newopportunities for bilateral cooperation in areas of Vietnam’s demand andCroatia’s strength, such as labour, education-training, culture-sports-tourism.
He affirmed that theCroatian leaders and authorities always create favourable conditions for Vietnamesepeople to live, do business stably and legally in the country, therebystrengthening the friendly relations between the two nations./.