Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador to Bulgaria Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet on March 11 paid a working trip to Kazanlak to boost cooperation between the Bulgarian city and Vietnam’s northern mountainous province of Lai Chau, while also discussing plans to showcase Vietnam’s image at the 2026 Rose Festival.
Meeting with Mayor Galina Stoyanova, Nguyet expressed her pleasure at returning to Kazanlak, a hub of Bulgarian cultural traditions renowned as the “capital of roses” for its extensive rose cultivation and rose oil production.
She highlighted the growing traditional friendship between Vietnam and Bulgaria in recent years, driven by high-level visits and exchanges. The establishment of a strategic partnership has provided fresh momentum for broader sectoral collaboration. Against this setting, proactive local-level partnerships hold practical value in deepening bilateral ties. Trade, education, culture, and people-to-people exchanges have seen notable strides.
Nguyet also welcomed the resigning of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between Kazanlak and Lai Chau in November last year during a working trip to Lai Chau by Chairman of the Kazanlak Municipal Council Nikolay Dimitrov.
The MoU marks a new phase of cooperation with a broader scope, extending beyond such traditional areas as culture and tourism to encompass trade, investment, education, training, labour, agriculture, and forestry, she said.
Stoyanova, for her part, affirmed that Kazanlak authorities would continue working with Lai Chau to lay out concrete cooperation directions under the MoU, hoping that Vietnam would send a delegation to this year’s festival.
On promising cooperation areas, she introduced the Bulgarian Research Institute for Roses and Aromatic Plants located in Kazanlak and expressed readiness to joint projects in rose cultivation and rose oil-derived products. Both sides agreed on the need to enhance cultural exchanges through school and joint cultural events in Bulgaria to further spread Vietnam’s image.
The Vietnamese embassy always considers local-level cooperation a priority to propel bilateral ties, she said, vowing the embassy’s readiness to serve as a focal point to connect with Vietnamese ministries, agencies, localities, and enterprises interested in partnerships, while also facilitating investment, trade, and cultural exchanges in both countries.
On the occasion, she also discussed the spread of Vietnamese culture at the festival in Kazanlak - one of Bulgaria’s major cultural events.
The Vietnamese embassy is willing to join the festival to present Vietnam’s image and culture, thereby fostering stronger people-to-people exchanges and mutual understanding between the two nations./.
