Presidents Rumen Radev and Luong Cuong: Bulgaria and Vietnam Seek to Expand Bilateral Cooperation with Focus on Investment and Trade
2024-11-25 14:30:00
During the talks between the two Presidents in Hanoi, high-tech, digital transformation, biotechnology, research, agriculture and energy are highlighted as promising sectors
Trade and economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Vietnam should be deepened and diversified to match the excellent dialogue at the highest political level. Our two countries are linked by historical traditions of long and sincere friendship, mutual respect and trust. Bulgaria and Vietnam regard their geopolitical location as a crucial prerequisite for cooperation in the South-East Europe and South-East Asia regions. This was the common position of Head of State Rumen Radev and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Luong Cuong, who held a meeting today in Hanoi. The Bulgarian Head of State is on a formal visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and Vietnam, which is celebrated on February 8, 2025.
Today Rumen Radev and his wife Desislava Radeva were welcomed with a ceremony by the Vietnamese presidential couple. At the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, the Bulgarian and Vietnamese heads of state held a meeting, after which they chaired plenary talks between the official delegations of the two countries. On the occasion of the official visit, a joint declaration was adopted confirming the efforts to continuously build on the pragmatic and effective cooperation between Bulgaria and Vietnam with the identification of specific measures in this direction.
Before the statements to the media, bilateral documents on cooperation signed during the visit were exchanged in the presence of the two Presidents. The first of them, an agreement on cooperation in the field of education for the period from 2025 to 2028, provides for the exchange of students, PhD students, postgraduate students and teachers, study of Bulgarian and Vietnamese language and culture, joint research projects. Memoranda of cooperation were also signed between the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Vietnamese Federation of Commerce and Industry, as well as between the municipality of Can Tho and Ruse.
The two presidents noted the positive development of the traditional friendship between Bulgaria and Vietnam and outlined guidelines for its further expansion. Areas of mutual interest with a focus on investment, energy, information technology, medicine, science and education, defence and culture, sports, agriculture and ecology were identified as promising areas. The upcoming production of electric cars by Vietnam also provides opportunities for cooperation with Bulgarian companies specialising in the development of automotive software, Rumen Radev said, adding that automotive companies from Germany and Japan have already opened their development centres in Bulgaria in this field.
In his statement to the media, Radev hailed Vietnam's effective reforms in recent years and its remarkable socio-economic development, comprehensive modernisation and high and sustainable economic growth. The President highlighted the weighty contribution of Vietnamese citizens who have studied and worked in Bulgaria - over 30 thousand people. This community is an important factor for fostering bilateral relations and a natural bridge between our peoples, which we must keep on strengthening, Radev said, describing the agreement signed today in the field of education as a major step in this direction. The training of Vietnamese military pilots in Bulgaria is also being restored after a 40-year lull. President Radev also noted the importance of the development of tourism and inter-regional cooperation.
In his statement to the media, President Luong Cuong expressed his conviction that the signed documents and thanks to the political determination at the highest political level and the efforts of institutions and businesses, the traditional friendship and multilateral cooperation between Bulgaria and Vietnam will be strengthened, responding to the need for sustainable development. We have agreed to open new areas of cooperation where Bulgaria has potential and Vietnam has interest - digital transformation, biotechnology, agriculture and healthcare, President Cuong said.
Bulgaria will continue to support all efforts to deepen cooperation between the EU and Vietnam, President Radev further said. Cooperation in international formats within the UN and ASEAN-EU were also discussed by the two Presidents. They expressed the common position that global conflicts should be resolved by peaceful means based on the principles of international law.
In Hanoi, the Head of State held bilateral meetings with General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party To Lam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and National Assembly Speaker Tran Thanh Man. Within the framework of today's meeting, President Rumen Radev, accompanied by his wife Desislava Radeva, paid tribute at the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, the father of Vietnamese independence, as well as at the monument to national martyrs and heroes.
Today, the Head of State's wife, Desislava Radeva, visited the Vietnam-Bulgaria kindergarten in Hanoi, built in 1981 with Bulgarian support, where Vietnamese children learn Bulgarian language, traditions and folklore. Mrs Radeva congratulated the young pupils, the teachers and the management of the preschool. She pointed out that the kindergarten has established itself over the years as a symbol of Bulgarian-Vietnamese solidarity and friendship. Desislava Radeva gave the children a specially made doll of Yan Bibiyan, after whom the preschool group in the kindergarten is named.
