At a ceremony held at 2 Dondukov street Head of State Rosen Plevneliev awarded the Stara Planina order, 1st class to Le Duc Luu, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Bulgaria, for his contributions to the development of the relationships between Bulgaria and Vietnam.
“During his term in office, Ambassador Le Duc Luu worked hard to strengthen the traditional relationships of close friendship, mutual respect and trust between Bulgaria and Vietnam. The dynamic top-level political dialogue in the past years gave a further impetus to deepening the bilateral cooperation. The relations between Bulgaria and Vietnam have acquired new broader dimensions also within the framework of the strengthened EU-ASEAN partnership and the Asia-Europe meeting ASEM,” President Rosen Plevneliev said in the statement he made at the official ceremony.
The Head of State emphasized that the Bulgarian President’s state visit to Vietnam in October 2013 was made with the assistance of Ambassador Le Duc Luu. “I have fond memories of the meetings we held not only with the state leadership of Vietnam, but also with the ordinary Vietnamese people – hospitable, warm, loving Bulgaria. In the spirit of the adopted joint declaration and the New model of economic cooperation, during my visit the relations between the two countries reached a new, higher level and the bilateral relations were speeded up toward establishing a strategic partnership,” Rosen Plevneliev recalled.
With the assistance of Ambassador Le Duc Luu the prime ministers of the two countries exchanged visits in April 2014 and in June 2015. Also ministers and deputy ministers in the economy, defense, security, justice, agriculture, culture, sport and tourism sectors exchanged visits. In December 2014 the Vice-president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Doan, who graduated in Bulgaria, visited our country. “This is sufficient evidence not only of the intense dialogue between the two countries at the top political level, but also of the strong ties between the ordinary people in Bulgaria and Vietnam,” the Head of State said.
President Rosen Plevneliev expressed high appraisal of the activity of the Vietnamese diplomat directed at the development of the bilateral economic ties and cooperation between the local authorities of the two countries, and also at popularizing the Vietnamese language and culture in Bulgaria. “The opportunity to use Bulgaria as a door for the Vietnamese goods to enter the EU market and the Southeast European region has been an indispensable part of our bilateral relations in the past years,” the Head of State further said and wished Ambassador Le Duc Luu success in his future diplomatic service.
Le Duc Luu said that receiving the high state award is a great honor to him and thanked the Bulgarian Head of State for his appraisal of the diplomat’s work. The diplomat assured that he will continue to encourage the successful development of the friendly relations between Vietnam and Bulgaria.