Vietnamese Ambassador highlights potential to promote cooperation with Turkey
Rome (VNA) – The relations between Vietnam and
Turkey have seen unexpected achievements in the past 45 years, and there
is potential to lift the bilateral ties to a new height, Vietnamese
Ambassador to Turkey Do Son Hai has said.
He made the statement
in a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in
southern Europe on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic
ties between the two countries (June 7).
According to the ambassador, the year
2017 marked a historic milestone in the two countries’ trade as two-way trade
hit 3.2 billion USD, making Vietnam the second largest partner of
Turkey in ASEAN after Malaysia.
The COVID-19 pandemic has partly affected the two countries' trade
activities with the two-way trade reaching about 1.65 billion USD in
2022. However, it remains a bright spot in the two countries’ relations, Hai said.
Regarding
the potential for further cooperation between
the two countries in the coming time, Ambassador Hai underlined the
great possibility of expanding and improving the effectiveness of
cooperation in trade.
Businesses of the two countries are increasingly
interested in each other in fields, especially agriculture, and tourism, he
said.
Bilateral trade turnover is the clearest evidence of the
development potential of the Vietnam-Turkey relations, he said, citing
data from the Vietnam General Department of Customs that in the first four months
of 2023 , Vietnamese exports to Turkey had reached 642.34 million USD, a year-on-year
increase of 29.7%.
A favourable factor for the strengthening of
bilateral relations is that national carrier Turkish Airlines, the 7th
largest airline in the world in 2022, now opens direct flights from
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Istanbul, with seven flights per week, he
added.
The diplomat went on to say the two countries aim to increase two-way trade to 4 billion USD by
2025.
At international organisations and multilateral forums,
the potential for cooperation between the two countries remains huge.
Regarding activities celebrating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Turkey, Ambassador
Hai said that in 2023, the embassy has been actively coordinating with the
foreign ministry, organisations, agencies, and businesses of Turkey to
organise events such as Vietnam Day in Ankara, fairs in localities to
introduce development stages of their bilateral relations, documentaries on 45
years of Vietnam – Turkey aired by two national television stations, Vietnam
Television VTV and TRT of Turkey.
The Ambassador concluded that to promote the development of bilateral
ties,
the two countries need to boost activities to present their nations,
peoples, and markets, and create conditions for the two countries'
businesses to access each other's market, as well as accelerate the
establishment of Vietnam-Turkey joint venture
companies.
In additional, the two countries need to promote the
organisation of the 8th session of the Vietnam-Turkey Joint Economic and
Trade Committee, he said. The seventh session was held in Hanoi in
July, 2017./.