Sofia (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee To Lam held talks with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev at the Presidential Palace in Sofia on October 23, in which he affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to relations with Bulgaria.
Warmly welcoming General Secretary Lam's first visit to Bulgaria as the two countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, President Radev emphasised Vietnam's position and role in the Asia-Pacific region and highly evaluated its foreign policy, contributing to peace, stability and development in the region.
He recalled his deep impressions during his visit to Vietnam in November 2024 about the beautiful country, warm and hospitable people and its great achievements in socio-economic development with the right reform policy, and affirmed that Bulgaria always attaches importance to the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam, and wants to work with Vietnam to promote cooperation to contribute to sustainable development in each country as well as prosperity on the two continents.
General Secretary Lam thanked President Radev for the respectful, warm and friendly reception for the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation and emphasised that Vietnam attaches special importance to relations with Bulgaria, always remembers and appreciates the valuable support of the Bulgarian people for Vietnam in the past struggle for national liberation, independence and national reunification, as well as in the current process of national construction and development.
At the talks, the two sides informed each other about the situation and development orientations of each country, stating that the two sides share many similarities in goals and policies as well as the potential to complement each other. Expressing their delight at the positive development in the bilateral relations in recent times, the two leaders discussed directions and measures to deepen the Vietnam - Bulgaria cooperation framework, making it more practical and suitable to the new context. The two leaders agreed to announce the upgrade of Vietnam - Bulgaria relations to a Strategic Partnership. With this decision, Bulgaria became the first country in the Balkan region to have a Strategic Partnership with Vietnam.
The two leaders agreed to expand and deepen cooperation in the spirit of the new cooperation framework, especially in areas where Bulgaria has professional experience and Vietnam has demand. The two sides also agreed to develop and immediately implement a Strategic Partnership Action Plan.
They consented to strengthen political trust by continuing to promote delegation exchanges and high-level contacts through all channels of the Party, State, parliament and people-to-people exchanges. In the context of many challenges in the world economy, the two countries need to coordinate closely, making economic, trade and investment cooperation a central pillar in the Strategic Partnership.
President Radev stressed that both sides need to support and create favourable conditions for enterprises of both countries to do business and invest in each country and was pleased that many Vietnamese firms came to Bulgaria to attend the business forum during the visit of General Secretary Lam. The two sides agreed to strongly promote trade and investment through opening markets to each other and taking advantage of the European Union - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) with the goal of doubling bilateral trade turnover in the coming years.
The two sides are ready to act as a "gateway" for each other's goods to penetrate the market of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the market of the European Union (EU).
Regarding defence and security cooperation, the two sides agreed to promote training cooperation and collaboration in the fields of United Nations peacekeeping, cyber security and military medicine. The two leaders also agreed to make science and technology cooperation an important pillar of the Strategic Partnership with digital transformation, digital economy, digital infrastructure and e-government, pharmaceuticals and biomedicine, virtual assistants and modern computer science, and green energy.
To enhance people-to-people exchanges, the two leaders agreed to build cultural programmes and activities, promote tourism in each country, and encourage air connectivity. President Radev expressed his admiration for Vietnamese folk culture and wants to organise cultural exchange activities so that people of the two countries could better understand each other.
He said that Bulgaria has a great demand for labour while Vietnam has a young, skilled workforce. He hoped to welcome more Vietnamese students to study in Bulgaria, promoting the tradition of cooperation in the fields of education, training and labour. President Radev thanked Vietnam for exempting visas for Bulgarian citizens, which has helped many Bulgarians travel to Vietnam and hoped that Vietnamese tourists would visit Bulgaria.
General Secretary Lam suggested Bulgaria simplify visa issuance for Vietnamese citizens, and agreed to promote cooperation in education and vocational training, and exchange students and experts between the two countries.
President Radev proudly mentioned that Bulgaria has trained more than 30,000 skilled experts, students, and researchers for Vietnam, many of whom hold important positions in the Government and in the economic, scientific, and cultural fields of Vietnam, actively participating in fostering friendship between the two countries.
The Vietnamese Party chief suggested the President and the Government of Bulgaria continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live stably, integrate and contribute to the socio-economic development of Bulgaria, serving as a bridge of friendship between the two countries.
Regarding the international and regional situation, the two leaders shared their stance and vision in solving matters and responding to current challenges; agreed to increase the exchange of views on issues of mutual concern, closely coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums such as the UN, ASEAN - EU, and Asia - Europe Meeting (ASEM). The two sides support ASEAN's stance in ensuring security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, and resolving disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
On this occasion, General Secretary Lam extended greetings and invitations to visit Vietnam by senior Vietnamese leaders to President Radev and Bulgarian leaders.
After the talks, General Secretary Lam and President Radev jointly announced the establishment of a Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and Bulgaria, and co-chaired a joint press conference./.
