On the evening of August 25 in Hanoi , the Uruguayan Embassy in Vietnam held a ceremony to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the National Day of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay (August 25, 1825 - August 25, 2025).
Attending the event were Mr. Dang Hoang Giang, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, along with Ambassadors and heads of international organizations in Vietnam.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Raul Pollak Giamprieto, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay to Vietnam, emphasized the promising potential for Vietnam-Uruguay economic development cooperation: “In the first 6 months of this year alone, Uruguay's export turnover to Vietnam reached 41 million USD, an increase of 30% over the same period in 2024, while imports from Vietnam reached 57 million USD.
The new Uruguayan government, which took office in March, has placed special emphasis on Southeast Asia, with the aim of expanding markets, promoting tourism, strengthening cooperation, and attracting investment – taking advantage of Uruguay’s model democratic system, political and financial stability, and strategic location that makes it a potential gateway to the South American common market (MERCOSUR) – a market bloc of 350 million people with a GDP of over 3 trillion USD”.
Alongside traditional exports, Uruguayan companies are looking for opportunities in non-traditional and niche products such as yerba mate tea and premium wines. The initial export of these products has been launched in 2024, with the aim of consolidating and expanding gradually in the coming years.
In early July, President Orsi and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and agreed to hold a Political Consultation as well as a meeting of the Joint Committee on Trade and Investment in 2025 to outline a work program on politics, economics and cooperation in the coming years.
Both leaders stressed the importance of promoting negotiations to sign the Free Trade Agreement between MERCOSUR and Vietnam – a long-awaited goal for both sides.
Last week, Uruguayan Deputy Foreign Minister Valeria Csukasi paid an official visit to Vietnam, attended the 5th Session of the Political Consultation and met with many senior Vietnamese leaders to seek more cooperation space in trade and investment.
She also joined Vietnamese authorities to discuss the launch of negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement between MERCOSUR and Vietnam – an agreement that promises to significantly expand bilateral trade, promote employment and improve the lives of people in both countries.
Believing in the bright future of bilateral cooperation, Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Hoang Giang affirmed: “After 32 years of establishing diplomatic relations (1993), the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Uruguay has continued to record substantial and comprehensive development in many fields.
Regular exchanges of delegations at all levels, effective maintenance of dialogue mechanisms, and continuous consolidation of the legal framework have enhanced mutual understanding and trust, creating conditions for enhanced cooperation between the governments, businesses, and people of the two countries. Trade exchange in 2024 will increase by 30% compared to 2023.
On July 7, 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi on the occasion of attending the BRICS+ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in many fields, especially in economics, trade and investment.
On August 19, the Uruguayan Deputy Foreign Minister and I also held the 5th session of Political Consultation between the two Foreign Ministries to specify measures to promote bilateral relations, towards expanding cooperation in potential areas as well as supporting each other at international organizations and multilateral forums, including the United Nations, promoting cooperation between Vietnam, ASEAN and Latin American regional organizations.
I deeply believe that, with the solid foundation of the relationship formed in history, the sharing of vast benefits in bilateral relations, the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Uruguay will have even stronger developments in the coming time".
Not only do the two countries cooperate in economic development, they also have great potential for cooperation in education and tourism development. Uruguay is one of 20 countries with Spanish as its official language. With over 500 million speakers, Spanish is currently the second most spoken language in the world.
On that basis, in 2024 Uruguay launched an internship program in cooperation with the Spanish Department of Hanoi University, creating opportunities for students to learn directly about the country and people of Uruguay while improving their reading, writing and understanding of Spanish.
Referring to cooperation in the fields of culture, education and tourism, the Uruguayan Ambassador to Vietnam said: “This year, we are promoting a plan to send a Spanish lecturer to teach at Hanoi University for a semester – a pilot project that we hope to implement next year and maintain annually. In addition, with the support of the Uruguayan Ministry of Education and Culture, we are also considering translating a classic Uruguayan literary work into Vietnamese – the first work by a Uruguayan writer to be translated into Vietnamese.
We are also committed to promoting tourism between our two countries. Therefore, we are working to simplify visa procedures for Vietnamese citizens – an issue that was discussed at the Deputy Ministerial level meeting last week. We believe that these measures will encourage more Vietnamese tourists to come to Uruguay, as well as more Uruguayans to come to Vietnam.”
Uruguay and Vietnam established diplomatic relations on August 11, 1993. On February 12, 2012, the first Ambassador of Uruguay presented his credentials to President Truong Tan Sang.
Since then, the relationship between the two countries – albeit slowly – has been steady, overcoming geographical distance and cultural differences.
In 2023, after the Covid-19 pandemic ended, the two countries celebrated 30 years of diplomatic relations. On this occasion, the Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam led a high-ranking delegation to pay an official visit to Uruguay and had meetings with the country's top leaders, including the then President Luis Lacalle Pou, and Mr. Yamandú Orsi, then Governor of Canelones Province, now President of Uruguay.
Updated 8/26/2025
Source: https://laichau.gov.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/chuyen-de/tin-trong-nuoc/viet-nam-la-doi-tac-thuong-mai-quan-trong-thu-hai-cua-uruguay-tai-khu-vuoc-dong-nam-a.html
![[VIDEO] Petrovietnam – 50 Years of Keeping the Heritage Torch, Building National Energy](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/402x226/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/9/3/3f5df73a4d394f2484f016fda7725e10)
![[Photo] President Luong Cuong meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/402x226/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/9/3/87982dff3a724aa880eeca77d17eff7f)
Comment (0)