Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang (fourth from left) and other delegates at the event (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Zagreb (VNA) – Deputy Minister of Foreign AffairsLe Thi Thu Hang and State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and EuropeanAffairs of Croatia Frano Matusic on March 12 co-chaired a political consultation betweenthe two foreign ministries, aiming to review bilateral cooperation and seek waysto promote relations in the coming time, as well as exchange views on regionaland international issues of mutual concern.
Hang affirmed that Vietnam always wants to strengthentraditional friendship with countries in the Balkans, of which Croatiais a priority, and congratulated Croatia on becoming an official member of the Eurozoneand the Schengen Area, which contributes to enhancing its position and role inthe European Union (EU) as well as in the international arena.
For his part, Frano Matusic expressed his impression ofVietnam's achievements in socio-economic development and internationalintegration and affirmed a desire to enhance cooperationwith the Southeast Asia nation in traditional fields such as trade andinvestment while expanding to new fields such as logistics, digital economy,new energy, education-training and labour.
He held that Croatia is willing to cooperateand share experience with Vietnam on sustainable tourism development.
Croatia has demand for skilled labour in the fields ofconstruction and tourism, the diplomat said, emphasising the potential forcooperation in the field of logistics, bringing Vietnamese goods throughCroatia's Rijeka port to Central and Eastern Europe and EU countries.
Deputy Minister Hang suggested Croatia create favourable conditions for Vietnam's agricultural products such as coffee, tropical fruits, textileproducts, and footwear to enter its market.
Regarding cooperation orientations in the coming time, thetwo sides agreed to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels,especially high-level ones, thereby strengthening political trust and creatingmomentum to promote collaboration in all fields. They also consented to considerestablishing new cooperation mechanisms to further effectively exploit theEU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), as well as enhance cooperation inother fields such as security, defence, science-technology and education.
Hang took the occasion to thank Croatia for being one of thefirst EU member countries to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment ProtectionAgreement (EVIPA) and call on the Croatian side to persuade the remaining 10 EUcountries to soon ratify the EVIPA and support the European Commission (EC) to soonremove the "yellow card" warning imposed on Vietnam's seafood.
The two sides agreed to coordinate to successfully organisecultural and art exchange activities in each country in 2024 on theoccasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties and closely coordinate at multilateral forums suchas the United Nations and within the ASEAN - EU framework.
Discussing international and regional issues of mutualconcern, they underscored the need to resolve conflicts by peaceful means onthe basis of international law and respect for the UN Charter.
Regarding the situation in the East Sea, both sides emphasisedthe importance of ensuring peace, stability, security, safety and freedom ofnavigation and overflight in the East Sea, respecting international law,including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) andsupport the negotiation process of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC)between ASEAN and China./.
