Vietnam-Bulgaria enter a period of dynamic and comprehensive cooperation

The good friendship that has been continuously nurtured over the past 75 years between Vietnam and Bulgaria has been raised to a new height with the establishment of a strategic partnership. This is the result achieved during the official visit to the Republic of Bulgaria by General Secretary To Lam and his wife along with the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation.

General Secretary To Lam receives President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev on his official visit to Vietnam at the Party Central Headquarters on the afternoon of November 25, 2024. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

Over the past few days, the beautiful land of roses has joyfully welcomed General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with the high-level Vietnamese delegation, with the warm sentiments of a close and enduring relationship that has been tested and nurtured over many decades. The visit is of historical significance as it marks the first time the head of the Communist Party of Vietnam has visited Bulgaria in 50 years, and coincides with the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

As one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, Bulgaria demonstrated sincere international solidarity and provided invaluable support to Vietnam's struggle for national liberation and defense. The image of thousands of Bulgarian students and citizens taking to the streets to protest the war in Vietnam remains a beautiful symbol of the friendly relationship between the two countries.

Before 1990, Bulgaria had helped train more than 3,600 scientists, experts at all levels, and about 30,000 skilled workers, a valuable source of high-quality human resources for Vietnam's national construction and development. The Vietnam-Bulgaria Hospital in Thai Binh and the Vietnam-Bulgaria Kindergarten in Hanoi are meaningful gifts that the Bulgarian people have given to Vietnam… With these historical achievements, General Secretary To Lam's visit conveys a message of sincere affection and respect from the Party, State, and people of Vietnam for their traditional friends, and also presents an opportunity for both sides to open up new avenues of cooperation.

Vietnam and Bulgaria have maintained a positive cooperative relationship for many years, with practical cooperation initiatives. Numerous cooperation programs in the economic and trade sectors have been implemented to expand market access opportunities and diversify supply chains for businesses in both countries.

In 2024, bilateral trade turnover increased by nearly 30% compared to the previous year. In the first nine months of 2025, many of Vietnam's key export items to Bulgaria continued to maintain impressive growth, especially agricultural products, textiles, and light industry products. However, these results are considered to be still far from the full potential for cooperation between the two countries.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has repeatedly expressed admiration for Vietnam's achievements after four decades of reform and its impressive development in recent years. He believes that Vietnam is developing very dynamically, creating many opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in new areas beyond traditional ones. Both sides also need to take advantage of their geographical location to find effective cooperation solutions to maximize each country's strengths.

In recent years, Bulgaria has emerged as a notable innovation hub in Eastern Europe. Information technology and outsourcing are rapidly growing sectors in Bulgaria. It boasts a highly skilled IT workforce, well-developed IT infrastructure, and high-speed internet connectivity. Bulgaria also has a thriving energy industry, including the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, which supplies approximately 35% of the country's electricity, along with numerous coal-fired and hydroelectric power plants, and is developing renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

Although its contribution to GDP has decreased significantly in recent decades, agriculture remains a vital sector of the Bulgarian economy; especially organic farming, which is rapidly developing with the number of organic farms increasing many times over the past decade, producing high-quality organic products that are popular in both domestic and international markets. Thanks to the unique climate and soil conditions, Damascus roses grown in Kazanlak have a high essential oil content, making the country the world's largest producer of rose essential oil, generating high economic value, often likened to liquid gold…

Admiring Bulgaria's remarkable progress, General Secretary To Lam affirmed that Bulgaria's current achievements are due to the development of science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation, which have resulted in high labor productivity and high-quality products. This is also a development model that Vietnam has strived to implement.

In the coming period, both sides need to strengthen sharing and closer cooperation to jointly create greater value, meeting the development needs of each country. In particular, it is necessary to leverage Bulgaria's strengths in technology, innovation, and high-quality human resources with Vietnam's production capacity and market scale.

In fact, businesses in both countries are increasingly interested in each other and are seeking opportunities for cooperation. This was evident in the atmosphere of the Vietnam-Bulgaria Business Forum held during the visit of the high-level Vietnamese delegation to the Republic of Bulgaria, with the participation of more than 100 businesses from both countries.

Bulgarian businesses are interested in the Vietnamese market in the fields of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, renewable energy, agricultural processing, and logistics. Conversely, Vietnamese businesses view Bulgaria as a "gateway" to the European Union market, thanks to its strategic geographical location, developed transportation infrastructure, and favorable business environment. Bulgaria is also considered a potential location with reasonable production costs, suitable for Vietnamese businesses to invest in the production of processed agricultural products, textiles, and footwear, thereby expanding their presence in the European market.

According to the Vietnamese Ambassador to Bulgaria, Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet, labor cooperation is emerging as a promising new direction. Bulgaria has a great need for workers in the fields of mechanics, machine manufacturing, electronics, construction, IT, healthcare, and food processing. Due to Bulgaria's labor shortage, an increasing number of Vietnamese workers are going to work there.

Labor cooperation is emerging as a promising new direction. Bulgaria has a high demand for workers in the fields of mechanics, machine manufacturing, electronics, construction, IT, healthcare, and food processing. Due to Bulgaria's labor shortage, an increasing number of Vietnamese workers are coming to work there.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Bulgaria Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet

Vietnamese workers are highly regarded for their skills, discipline, and sense of responsibility, leaving a positive impression on Bulgarian society. Both Bulgaria and Vietnam aspire to establish a new cooperation mechanism on labor, aiming for sustainable, humane, and mutually beneficial cooperation. Following Vietnam's decision to waive visa requirements for Bulgarian citizens from August 2025, tourism businesses in both countries have promoted cooperation in connecting tours, focusing on cultural tourism, heritage sites, and beach resorts. Both sides are also exploring the possibility of cooperation in the fields of sports and creative culture, leveraging Bulgaria's strengths in gymnastics, classical music, and theatrical arts.

During General Secretary To Lam's visit, the two leaders exchanged views on expanding comprehensive cooperation across various fields and agreed to upgrade the relationship to a Strategic Partnership. Economic and trade cooperation was identified as one of the central pillars and main driving forces for the Vietnam-Bulgaria relationship to shift from a "traditional" to a "strategic, substantive, and effective" partnership.

The two leaders identified science and technology as a priority area for cooperation, capable of creating high value and making practical contributions to socio-economic development and the transformation of growth models in both countries. They focused on areas where both sides have potential, strengths, and a need for cooperation, such as training human resources in information technology for digital transformation, the digital economy, digital infrastructure and e-government, pharmaceuticals, biomedical science, artificial intelligence (AI) and modern computer science, and green energy. This was identified as a strategic priority for the 2030-2045 period.

These strategic directions are creating dynamic movements that are propelling the cooperative relationship between the two countries into a more dynamic, substantive, and comprehensive phase of development, based on the foundation of traditional friendship, political trust, and strong bonds of affection between the two peoples, for the peace, prosperity, and sustainable development of each nation and the well-being of both peoples.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/viet-nam-bulgaria-buoc-vao-giai-doan-hop-tac-nang-dong-toan-dien-post917902.html