The Diplomat
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang began an official visit to Spain yesterday, with the aim of giving a new impetus to the strategic partnership relations between the two countries, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Madrid Hoang Xuan Hai.
Hoam Xuan Hai stressed in statements to Vietnamese news agency VNA that this is the highest-ranking visit to Spain by a Vietnamese Government leader since 2017.
The Deputy Prime Minister, who will be in Spain until tomorrow, Friday, plans to maintain contact with Spanish Government officials and will participate in a Spain-Vietnam business forum today, organised by CEOE, which will also be attended by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.
The ambassador explained that in his contacts with the Spanish authorities, Tran Luu Quang will discuss the progress of bilateral cooperation in recent times and agree on specific measures to eliminate existing barriers. He added that they will also discuss the adoption of cooperative mechanisms in priority fields such as infrastructure, green energy, climate change response and water resources management, in order to bring the bilateral strategic partnership to a stronger and more practical development in the near future, he said.
Vietnam-Spain relations have developed vigorously in all areas, taking into account the increased exchange of delegations and the signing of several multi-sectorial cooperation agreements, the ambassador said.
In particular, Vietnam became Spain’s largest trading partner in the grouping of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN), worth more than four billion dollars in 2022. Currently, Spain has 88 investment projects in Vietnam with a total capital of $143 million.
Meanwhile, bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation still does not match the strategic partnership and the potential and demands of the two peoples, Hoang Xuan Hai noted.
The ambassador expressed hope that with the entry into force of the European Union (EU)-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) by the National Assembly of Spain in late January 2022, enterprises of the two countries will take advantage of favourable conditions to promote trade and investment ties.
According to the diplomat, the two sides should resume and launch a number of important cooperation mechanisms, such as the political consultation at the level of deputy foreign ministers and the first meeting of the Bilateral Trade and Investment Cooperation Committee to comprehensively review the cooperation relationship, to address measures and roadmap to boost bilateral cooperation in the future.
