Opening a new chapter for Vietnam-Bulgaria relations

Within the framework of his official visit to Bulgaria, on the afternoon of October 24 (local time) in the capital Sofia, General Secretary To Lam had a meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.

Welcoming General Secretary To Lam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov welcomed and highly appreciated the significance of General Secretary To Lam's first visit to Bulgaria, which has made an important contribution to promoting Vietnam-Bulgaria relations.

Congratulating Vietnam on its strong economic and social development achievements in recent times, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov affirmed that Vietnam is Bulgaria's leading important and reliable partner in Southeast Asia.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov emphasized that the visit, with the announcement of upgrading relations to a Strategic Partnership, on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations, is a historic milestone in the bilateral relationship, thereby creating a new impetus to promote the traditional friendship between the two countries to new heights.

Expressing his sincere thanks for the warm welcome from the Bulgarian leaders and people, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to the good traditional friendship with Bulgaria; emphasizing that Vietnam always remembers the valuable support of the Bulgarian people for Vietnam in the past struggle for national liberation and in the country's development today.

General Secretary To Lam speaks. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

At the meeting, General Secretary To Lam informed about the good results of the talks with President Rumen Radev and the two sides' adoption of the Joint Statement upgrading the Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and Bulgaria, opening a new chapter for bilateral relations, creating new momentum to promote the extensive, substantive and effective development of relations, meeting the interests of the two peoples.

On the basis of the newly established cooperation framework, the two leaders agreed to enhance political trust, promote delegation exchanges, high-level contacts through Party, State, Government, National Assembly channels and people-to-people exchanges; strengthen the coordinating role of the two countries' Foreign Ministries in promoting bilateral cooperation; coordinate in implementing the contents of the Strategic Partnership and effectively promote existing mechanisms such as the Intergovernmental Committee, the Science and Technology Cooperation Committee, and at the same time study and establish new mechanisms suitable to the current Strategic Partnership...

In the fields of economics, trade and investment, the two sides agreed to consider this as the main driving force of the relationship, emphasizing that both countries need to effectively utilize the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and coordinate to ensure sustainable supply chains and logistics connections through seaports, aiming to double bilateral trade turnover in the coming years.

The two sides expressed their delight at the good results achieved at the Vietnam-Bulgaria Business Forum.

The General Secretary affirmed that Vietnam is ready to facilitate Bulgarian goods to access the domestic market and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), hoping that Bulgaria will become a "gateway" for Vietnamese goods to enter the EU market, reduce trade barriers and support Vietnamese enterprises to invest in Bulgaria.

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam also proposed further expanding cooperation in traditional fields such as education and training, culture and tourism, health, labor, and agriculture, including urging the European Commission (EC) to soon remove the "Yellow Card" for Vietnam's seafood exports to the EU market; and suggested that the two sides promote the early signing of a cooperation agreement between the two governments in the health sector.

Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov pledged to work with the Vietnamese Government to effectively implement the contents of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The two leaders also shared the view that in addition to traditional fields, bilateral cooperation still has much room for development, especially in areas of mutual interest such as digital transformation, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security, e-government, etc. and emphasized their commitment to making scientific and technological cooperation an important pillar in the Vietnam-Bulgaria Strategic Partnership.

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam thanked the Prime Minister and the Bulgarian government for their attention and favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, study and work stably in Bulgaria.

General Secretary To Lam asked President Rumen Radev and Bulgarian authorities at all levels to continue facilitating eligible Vietnamese people to acquire Bulgarian nationality, helping the Vietnamese community integrate more deeply and make positive contributions to the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

On the multilateral front, the two sides affirmed to closely coordinate and support each other at international forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations and ASEAN-EU, and join hands to address global challenges such as climate change, energy security, and sustainable development.

At the end of the meeting, General Secretary To Lam respectfully conveyed the regards of Vietnam's senior leaders and the invitation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov to visit Vietnam./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/mo-ra-chuong-moi-cho-quan-he-hai-nuoc-viet-nam-bulgaria-post1072512.vnp