Workshop highlights Vietnam – Romania friendship

Bucharest (VNA) – A workshop on the Vietnam - Romania diplomatic relations was organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Romania and the Centre for Indochina Studies in Bucharest on October 8.

It is part of the programme to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations.

Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Tran Phong laid stress on the sound friendship and traditional cooperation between the two countries in the past seven decades, with collaboration having unceasingly been deepened across the fields of political dialogue, foreign affairs, security and defence, trade, agriculture and industry, labour and tourism, education and training.

Vietnam and Romania have witnessed significant developments in their relations, illustrated through the official visits of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in 2019 and former Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Jullien Ciolos in 2016, many high-level visits in 2018 and 2019, and the first ministerial meeting of the Vietnam – Romania Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation in Bucharest last year.

Phong said several Memoranda of Understanding and cooperation programmes on labour, culture, agriculture, education-training, and science-technology were inked between the two countries, helping boost exchanges of trade, tourism, workers and students during 2016-2019.

Thanks to the positive and effective support of Romania as rotating President of the Council of the European Union in 2019, the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) were approved and took effect soon, bringing new opportunities and benefits to both sides.

In this context, the all-round cooperation and traditional friendship between the two countries have contributed greatly to the EU – Vietnam relations in particular, and the EU – ASEAN ties as a whole, he added.

Based on the time-tested relationship and mutual trust, Vietnam-Romania cooperation in trade, construction, industry, agriculture, education and training, science and IT, environment, labour, culture and tourism will be definitely elevated to a new high, Phong affirmed.

Discussions at the workshop sharpened focus on the bilateral friendship as well as potential for further collaboration, especially in economy, trade and investment after the EVFTA came into force.

Participants also outlined measures to remove bottlenecks in trade exchange, labour supply, and agricultural cooperation in the time ahead./.