At the invitation of Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Tanja Fajon paid an official visit to Vietnam from May 22-23.
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| Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son welcomes Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
At the talks held on the morning of May 23, Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with the Republic of Slovenia, a traditional partner of Vietnam's friends in Central Eastern Europe.
The Minister welcomed and highly appreciated the first visit to Vietnam by Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Tanja Fajon, considering it an important milestone in promoting bilateral relations to become more in-depth and effective.
Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Tanja Fajon expressed his impression of Vietnam's positive socio-economic development achievements in recent years; highly appreciate the increasingly important role and position of Vietnam in the region and in the world; affirmed that Slovenia always attaches importance to and wishes to strengthen relations with Vietnam, Slovenia's leading and important partner in Southeast Asia.
In an atmosphere of openness and trust, the two Ministers had a comprehensive exchange on the socio-economic situation of each country and the bilateral cooperation relationship.
The two sides are pleased to see that, over the past 30 years, the traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Slovenia has been developing actively in many fields, especially in politics - diplomacy, economy - trade...;
The two sides also agreed that the two countries have plenty of room to further strengthen their bilateral cooperation and agreed on measures to boost cooperation in many potential fields in the coming period.
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| The two ministers held talks. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
In terms of politics and diplomacy, the two sides agreed that it is necessary to strengthen the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level in 2024 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, through channels of State, Government, National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges; closely coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums and international organizations, including the United Nations, ASEM, and the ASEAN-EU cooperation framework.
The two Ministers highly appreciated the signing of a cooperation agreement between the two foreign ministries on this occasion, creating a legal foundation to promote cooperation between the two ministries in the coming time, contributing to enhancing political understanding and trust between the two countries.
In terms of economy and trade, the two ministers were pleased to see that over the past time, despite being affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, economic cooperation between the two countries continued to maintain a positive growth momentum, two-way trade turnover in 2022 reached a record of over 570 million USD, up 15% compared to 2021.
Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son highly appreciated the fact that the Slovenian side organized a business delegation to accompany the Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during this visit to Vietnam. encourage Slovenia to increase investment in areas where Vietnam has needs and Slovenia has strengths such as shipping, logistics, water and waste management, etc.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Slovenia affirmed that Slovenia will soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), prompting the EC to soon remove the IUU yellow card for Vietnamese seafood products; coordinate in preparing to organize well the 3rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic Cooperation in October 10 in Slovenia.
Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Tanja Fajon assessed Vietnam as a dynamic developing economy in Southeast Asia and one of Slovenia's potential markets in the region; expressed the wish that the two sides promote cooperation in the fields of green technology, renewable energy, environmental protection, seaports, logistics...; said that the Slovenian National Assembly is in the process of ratifying the EVIPA Agreement and affirming its support for the EC to soon remove the IUU yellow card for Vietnam's seafood.
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| On this occasion, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the two foreign ministries. (Photo: Tuan Anh) |
The two Foreign Ministers also agreed to coordinate in organizing cultural, art and people-to-people exchanges to celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2024. The two sides also discussed promoting and expanding cooperation in new fields such as education - training, culture - tourism.
On this occasion, Minister Bui Thanh Son thanked the Slovenian Government for creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to integrate and live stably in Slovenia.
At the talks, the two sides also discussed a number of regional and international issues of mutual concern. Regarding the East Sea, the two sides shared the importance of ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea as well as settling disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
After the talks, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs Tanja Fajon signed a cooperation agreement between the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs.
