Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov have agreed to strengthen bilateral co-operation in all fields towards establishing a strategic partnership.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (left) meets Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov
In talks held in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, they said priority would be given to promoting a new model of economic co-operation and trade and investment links.
They expressed mutual determination to boost trade exchanges and facilitate partnerships between business communities in both countries, especially in transport infrastructure, irrigation, garment materials, electricity and renewable energies, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, information and bio technology and post-harvest processing.
Ties across education-training, national defence-security, science-technology, culture, tourism and transport will also be strengthened.
Hailing the traditional friendship between the two countries, the prime ministers agreed that they would celebrate the 65th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties this year with various events including photo exhibitions, film screenings and exchange visits by art troupes.
PM Dung thanked Bulgaria for adding Vietnam to the list of partners in its 2015 development co-operation agenda and called for greater joint efforts in environment, waste treatment, water resource management and restoration of relics.
He thanked Bulgarian authorities for their support to Vietnamese nationals living in the country, expressing confidence that they would continue acting as a bridge between the two countries.
Both sides vowed mutual support at international fora including United Nations, the Asia-Europe Meeting, the ASEAN-European Union (EU) and international forums.
PM Borissov said Bulgaria backed the strengthening of relationship between Vietnam and the EU and would push for EU's early ratification of the Vietnam – EU Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation, as well as the signing of a Vietnam – EU Free Trade Agreement. He said the FTA would be useful for developing ties between Bulgaria and Vietnam while making it easier for the latter to successfully integrate into the global economy.
On regional and global issues of shared interest, the two leaders shared concerns over the recent complicated developments in the East Sea, including large-scale land reclamation projects.
They stressed the need to settle disputes by peaceful means, refraining from the use of force or threat to use force in line with basic principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea. They called for early formulation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.
Following their talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of a co-operation agreement on crime control between the two governments, a 2016-2017 cooperation scheme between the two justice ministries, memoranda of understanding on establishing friendly and cooperative ties between HCM City and Sofia city, and between the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and Rousse city. At a press briefing later, PM Dung and Boyko Borissov announced the outcome of their talks and then issued a Vietnam – Bulgaria Joint communique.
Dung said Vietnam welcomed and would provide all possible support to Bulgarian investors active in Vietnam, especially in urban planning, application of bio-technology in agriculture and health care, information technology and communications, effective use of energy, environmental protection, food processing and tourism.
Both countries also signed a joint communique yesterday.
