Viet Nam, Romania agree to cement ties amid complex global developments

The agreement was reached by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Romanian counterpart Ion Marcel Ciolacu during their summit meeting in Bucharest on January 22.

Pham said the Government and people of Viet Nam will always bear in mind the valuable support and assistance provided by Romania over the past 75 years, notably its assistance for training more than 4,000 Vietnamese students and graduates who have made significant contributions to the development in Viet Nam and to the Viet Nam-Romania relations.

Both sides agreed to foster contacts and delegation exchanges across channels, people-to-people exchanges, and local-to-local cooperation to further enhance political trust and mutual understanding which serve as basis for accelerating and expanding bilateral cooperation.

Describing economic, trade and investment ties as a crucial pillar in bilateral relations, they vowed to advance them commensurate with their political ties; further uphold existing cooperation mechanisms, and encourage businesses from both countries to fully and effectively implement the EU-Viet Nam free trade agreement (EVFTA).

Viet Nam is ready to serve as a gateway for Romanian goods to access the Vietnamese and ASEAN markets, PM Pham said.

Acknowledging Romania's significant role, both as an EU member and a key contributor to the EVFTA which was signed on June 30, 2019, the last day of its rotating EU presidency, the Vietnamese leader urged continued advocacy for the prompt ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) by remaining EU countries. He also sought support in lifting the "yellow card" warning on Vietnamese seafood from the European Commission.

Recognizing Viet Nam as one of Romania's most promising markets in Asia-Pacific, Prime Minister Ciolacu encouraged increased collaboration in trade, logistics and tourism, with Romania serving as Viet Nam's gateway to Europe, particularly as Romania prepares to join the Schengen Area in March 2024.

Prime Minister Pham thanked Romania for being the first EU member country to provide 300,000 vaccine doses and various medical supplies to help Viet Nam contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Ciolacu also extended thanks to Viet Nam for gifting 10,000 doses of African swine fever vaccine, produced by Viet Nam, to Romania for disease prevention, expressing his desire to continue collaborating with Viet Nam to produce this vaccine in Romania.

Host and guest pledged to strengthen effective cooperation in traditional areas such as education-training, sci-tech, national defense-security, culture-sports-tourism, labor, health care and pharmaceuticals while expanding collaboration in new fields, including information technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transition and circular economy.

The Vietnamese leader proposed the Romanian Government continue creating even more favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community living in Romania to integrate deeply into the local society, contributing to people-to-people exchange and tourism cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides affirmed their commitment to continued sharing of experience and mutual support at multilateral forums and international organizations, for the sake of peace, security, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

On the global issues, both sides underscored the importance of settling disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law.

They also promised to work closely together to effectively prepare for upcoming high-level visits between the two countries.

After the talks, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of 19 cooperative documents on economic, cultural, labor and education cooperation between the two countries./.