Following the successful conclusion of their visit to Finland, on the evening of October 22nd (local time), the special aircraft carrying General Secretary To Lam and his wife Ngo Phuong Ly, along with the high-level Vietnamese delegation, arrived at Sofia International Airport.
Welcoming General Secretary To Lam and his wife and delegation at the airport, on the Bulgarian side were: Mr. Atanas Zafirov, Chairman of the Socialist Party and Deputy Prime Minister; Mr. Roussi Ivanov, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Presidential Palace; and Mr. Mircho Ivanov, Head of the Protocol Department of the Presidential Palace.
On the Vietnamese side were: Vietnamese Ambassador to Bulgaria Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet; staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and members of the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria.
The General Secretary's visit took place at a time when the two countries were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, and it was the first visit by a General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam since Bulgaria's political transition in 1990.
The visit also demonstrates Vietnam's appreciation for its traditional partners and friends who have provided valuable support and contributions to the cause of national defense in the past and to the cause of national construction and development today...
This visit will be an opportunity for the leaders of the two countries to strategically orient and elevate Vietnam-Bulgaria relations to a new level, especially in areas where Bulgaria has strengths and Vietnam has needs, such as information technology, quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, green transformation, and biomedical science. At the same time, it is also an opportunity for the two countries to build a solid bridge of trust connecting Bulgaria with ASEAN and vice versa, Vietnam with the EU.
As one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, since 1950, the friendship between Vietnam and Bulgaria has been carefully nurtured by generations of leaders and people of both countries.
In August 1957, President Ho Chi Minh paid an official friendly visit to Bulgaria, laying the foundation and opening a period of positive development in relations between the two countries with the valuable material and spiritual support and assistance that Bulgaria provided to Vietnam.
The Vietnamese people will always remember the image of thousands of Bulgarian students and citizens taking to the streets to protest the war in Vietnam. The Vietnam-Bulgaria Hospital in Thai Binh and the Vietnam-Bulgaria Kindergarten in Hanoi are meaningful gifts that the Bulgarian people gave to the Vietnamese people. Bulgaria has trained thousands of Vietnamese experts with university and postgraduate degrees, and tens of thousands of skilled workers…
In terms of politics and diplomacy, the two sides regularly maintain exchanges of high-level and other delegations, and periodically implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms, thereby building a deep foundation of political trust.
Bilateral trade turnover has grown steadily in recent years. Regarding education and training, the two countries have signed a cooperation program for the period 2025-2028 and are considering expanding cooperation in training in Bulgaria's areas of strength such as information technology, cybersecurity, e-government, and public administration.
Cooperation in defense, security, culture, labor, etc., is increasingly developing. Both sides are also implementing collaborative scientific research tasks; establishing a Committee for Cooperation in Science and Technology, focusing on new areas.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-va-phu-nhan-bat-dau-tham-bulgaria-2455505.html
![[Photo] General Secretary and President To Lam presides over a meeting on preparations for the review of one year of operation of the three-tiered government system.](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/06/02/1780391821195_a1-bnd-4595-9717-jpg.webp)
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