General Secretary To Lam meets with Prime Minister of Slovakia

At the meeting, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to developing the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Slovakia; emphasizing that the Vietnamese people always remember and are grateful for the valuable support and assistance that the Slovakian people gave Vietnam in the past struggle for independence and national reunification and in the current socio-economic development and international integration.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico expressed his pleasure at meeting General Secretary To Lam; shared good memories of his visit to Vietnam in 2016, emphasizing the impression of the warm and respectful welcome that the Vietnamese leaders and people gave him during the visit. Appreciating the role and position of Vietnam in the region and the world, Prime Minister Robert Fico affirmed that Slovakia always considers Vietnam as a leading important partner in Southeast Asia and wishes to continue promoting cooperation with Vietnam to develop deeply and extensively in all fields.

General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister Robert Fico agreed that in the coming time, the two sides need to continue to strengthen cooperation in all areas, including promoting the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially at high levels, to enhance political trust and mutual understanding; promoting economic cooperation in the spirit of promoting complementary strengths in the context of many fluctuations in the world and regional situation; enhancing cooperation in education, science and technology, innovation, and student exchange between the two countries; promoting cultural and tourism cooperation; closely coordinating in solving regional and global issues, supporting each other at multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the strategic partnership framework, and ASEAN-EU.

On this occasion, the General Secretary asked Slovakia to support the European Commission (EC) in promptly removing the IUU "yellow card" on Vietnam's seafood exports, and to urge the remaining EU countries to promptly ratify the Vietnam - EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIFTA).

Prime Minister Robert Fico agreed that the two sides should coordinate to organize cultural and artistic activities such as cultural days, painting exhibitions, film weeks, art performances, and sports exchanges in 2025 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries; and hoped that Vietnam would consider visa exemption for Slovakian citizens to further facilitate tourism and investment cooperation between the two countries.

The General Secretary thanked the Slovak Government for recognizing the Vietnamese community in Slovakia as an ethnic minority; he hoped that the Slovak authorities at all levels would continue to pay attention and create more favorable conditions for the community to stabilize their lives, integrate well into the locality, contribute to the local development and promote friendship between the people of the two countries.

On this occasion, the General Secretary respectfully invited Prime Minister Fico to soon pay an official visit to Vietnam. Prime Minister Robert Fico also respectfully invited General Secretary To Lam and senior Vietnamese leaders to visit Slovakia at an appropriate time./.

BNG

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-gap-thu-tuong-slovakia-102250509225635589.htm