Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, will begin an official visit to Romania today (January 20) at the invitation of Romanian Prime Minister Ion-Marcel Ciolacu. Before the visit, VietNamNet spoke with Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam Cristina Romila about the significance and importance of the visit. Vietnam established diplomatic relations with Romania on February 3, 1950. This year, Vietnam and Romania mark the 74th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. The Romanian Ambassador assessed that the past 5 years have deeply reaffirmed the traditional friendship between the two countries, through promoting the exchange of high-level delegations and cooperation in addressing major challenges, such as the Covid-19 pandemic or efforts to evacuate more than 1,000 Vietnamese citizens from the conflict in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on the sidelines of the High-level General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly (September 2023). Photo: Nhat Bac

The Ambassador reviewed a number of recent high-level contacts between Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (September 2023) and the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-EU Dialogue Relations in Brussels, Belgium (December 2022), and the phone call between the two Presidents (July 2021). The political -diplomatic dialogue has achieved many new developments, reflected through economic cooperation, even at the European Union level. One of Romania's important achievements in its role as President of the EU Council and EU trade policy is the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) in June 2019. Romania was one of the first EU member states to ratify the IPA. People-to-people diplomacy has also made significant positive progress after the Covid-19 pandemic, helping to boost cultural, academic and business exchanges. Representatives from more than 30 Romanian universities have visited Vietnam in the past two years; the renowned Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra will perform in Vietnam in 2022 and 2023 at the Hanoi Opera House and Da Lat. Several economic delegations have visited Vietnam in the past year, seeking new opportunities to deepen and diversify bilateral economic cooperation.
The two sides agreed on important cooperation mechanisms in areas of mutual interest such as trade, agriculture , sanitation, energy, labor, science, technology and culture. Romania can become a gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter Europe, similar to Vietnam facilitating Romania's entry into the ASEAN market. Vietnam's main export items to Romania are: coffee, seafood, pepper, textiles, leather shoes, computer components. Vietnam's main import items are: chemicals, fertilizers, construction steel, plastic beads, oil and gas drilling equipment, wood products... Since 2010, Romania has been ranked among Vietnam's major seafood export markets (about 12,000 tons/year). According to the female Ambassador: "We need to effectively utilize the EVFTA to open each other's markets and attract investment in areas of mutual interest." Regarding investment, by the end of 2022, Romania had 5 direct investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered investment capital of 1.56 million USD, ranking 42nd out of 143 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Ambassador Cristina Romila said that this visit by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will continue to promote the Prime Minister-level dialogue between Romania and Vietnam. The most recent contacts at this level took place in 2016 (official visit to Vietnam by the Romanian Prime Minister) and 2019 (official visit to Romania by the Vietnamese Prime Minister). "The visit is also deeply symbolic, highlighting the strong people-to-people ties that have been the foundation for bilateral relations over the past 74 years. We are honored that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh graduated from university in Romania," the Ambassador shared.

Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam Cristina Romila answers the interview.

Many areas of common interests will facilitate the successful and substantive visit. The Ambassador expects that bilateral projects and legal cooperation frameworks will make new progress. The visit has the potential to become an important milestone in sectoral cooperation, helping to enhance understanding of each other's priorities and interests. The Ambassador said that her term in Vietnam has important priorities such as: Strengthening high-level political and diplomatic contacts, diversifying economic exchanges, promoting people-to-people contacts, building new bridges through cultural cooperation and academic exchanges. She emphasized that the traditional relations, strong friendship between the two countries, and the potential of the bilateral agenda help create favorable conditions for the two countries to move forward into the future.

Vietnamnet.vn

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