In an interview with Mexicanmedia, the ambassador said over 44 years since the establishment of thediplomatic relationship on May 19, 1975, the countries have been enjoying a soundfriendship and cooperation. They have shared similarities in their internal andexternal policies as both have similar development targets and geo-strategic positions.
The two sides have also oftensupported each other at important multilateral and international forums such asthe United Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
The Vietnamese and Mexicanforeign ministries are going to hold the fifth political consultation betweentheir deputy ministers in the time ahead so as to seek measures to bolsterpolitical and diplomatic cooperation, Duong said.
He noted over the last decade,bilateral trade has grown by 10-15 percent annually, reaching about 5 billionUSD at present. However, direct investment and partnership between thecountries’ businesses remain modest.
As both nations have signedand ratified the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP) and are working to implement it, bilateral trade andinvestment will achieve considerable progress in the near future to match thepotential of the two markets, which boasts more than 220 million consumersrepresenting 45 percent of the total population and 15 percent of the combinedGDP of all CPTPP members, the diplomat added.
Vietnam and Mexico will also soonorganise the second meeting of the joint committee for economic, trade andinvestment cooperation so as to remove obstacles in economic ties, thuscreating more favourable conditions for businesses to boost bilateral trade andinvestment.
In his interview, Duong alsoadmitted the limited collaboration in science-technology, education-training,and culture-arts, citing geographical distance and language difference as thereasons.
He noted activities held bythe Vietnamese Embassy in Mexico City as well as by the Mexican Embassy in Hanoi to promote connections in these fields, includingcultural exchanges, photo exhibitions, and talks at universities and culturalcentres, to popularise the countries’ images to each other’s people.
Additionally,the acupuncture project that Vietnam’s National Hospital of Acupuncture hascarried out in Mexico for almost 20 years, and the presence of Vietnamesestudents at several Mexican universities are also highlights in cultural andsocial relations.
The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) is planningto publish the Vietnam Pictorial in Spanish in Mexico. That will give a boostto the introduction of Vietnam to the country and Latin American nations, aswell as cultural exchanges, Ambassador Duong said.-VNA