Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador to Bulgaria Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet has attended the Veliko Tarnovo city festival and held a working session with Mayor Daniel Panov to promote cooperation between the Bulgarian locality and localities of Vietnam.
The visit highlighted growing momentum in locality-to-locality engagement, seen as an important pillar of the Vietnam–Bulgaria comprehensive strategic partnership.
The festival was attended by many Bulgarian leaders, including National Assembly President Natalya Kiselova, Vice President Kostadin Angelov, former President Rumen Radev, along with many senior officials and local representatives.
During her meeting with Mayor Panov, Ambassador Nguyet expressed appreciation for the warm reception and congratulated the city on successfully organising the festival, describing it as a vibrant showcase of Veliko Tarnovo’s rich history and distinctive cultural identity.
She emphasised that the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria have continued to strengthen, particularly after the two countries elevated ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during Vietnamese Party General Secretary To Lam’s official visit to Bulgaria in October last year.
Cooperation between local authorities, she noted, has been identified as a key driver in advancing the bilateral relations. The diplomat affirmed that the Embassy stands ready to act as a bridge to facilitate partnerships between Veliko Tarnovo and Vietnamese provinces and cities in the coming time.
Panov, for his part, welcomed the participation of the Vietnamese Embassy delegation at one of the city’s most important annual events and expressed his desire to expand cooperation with Vietnam in culture and tourism, education and training, trade, and labour exchange.
He pledged to all favourable conditions to facilitate connections between partners from the two countries. He also said invitations would be extended to Vietnamese delegations to attend major events in Veliko Tarnovo in 2026. In addition, he proposed that the two sides jointly organise tourism seminars, strengthen links between travel firms, and step up the promotion of Vietnamese culture in Veliko Tarnovo.
The meeting opened up new avenues for cooperation between localities of the two countries, contributing to further deepening the Vietnam–Bulgaria Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Located in northern Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo once served as the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire from the 12th to 14th centuries and is renowned for its medieval architecture and the Tsarevets Fortress. The city is widely regarded as one of Bulgaria’s most significant cultural and historical centres, symbolising the country’s spirit of independence and national revival. It was also the birthplace of Bulgaria’s first constitution, drafted and adopted in 1879 following liberation from Ottoman rule.
Veliko Tarnovo is also an attractive tourist destination with many festivals and unique cultural events throughout the year. In 2025, the city welcomed nearly 400,000 tourists in total./.
