Sánchez signs agreements in Vietnam to promote agricultural exports and infrastructure investment

Eduardo González The first day of the President of the Government Pedro Sánchez's Asian tour concluded this Wednesday in Hanoi with the signing of a Joint Declaration and five agreements with the Government of Vietnam to conduct political consultations and facilitate, amid the "trade war" with the US, Spanish exports of agricultural products and investments in sectors such as transportation, infrastructure, energy, and water. Sánchez is on a tour of Vietnam and China, two of the countries in the world (with 46 and 34 percent respectively) hardest hit by the new trade tariffs announced last week by US President Donald Trump. The Prime Minister is traveling accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Luis Planas. The objective of the visit to Vietnam, the first by a Spanish Prime Minister in the history of this Southeast Asian country, is to "deepen political relations between the two countries and promote bilateral investment and trade," according to the Spanish Foreign Ministry (Moncloa). The Asian tour takes place in a context marked by US tariffs (which will be 20 percent for the European Union) and with the Prime Minister's own insistence that the European Union diversify and open new markets in order to reduce excessive dependencies and, therefore, vulnerabilities, and achieve strategic autonomy. The tour began this Wednesday in Vietnam's political capital, Hanoi, with a meeting with the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Minh Chinh. At the end of the visit, the two signed a Joint Declaration between Spain and Vietnam to boost bilateral relations "with the aim of moving toward a comprehensive strategic relationship," according to Sánchez. The two governments also signed five agreements. On the one hand, Albares and his Vietnamese counterpart, Bui Thanh Son, signed an agreement on political consultations that provides for regular contacts, cooperation between Spain and Vietnam in areas of common interest, and the exchange of views on regional and international issues affecting both countries. Agricultural Products Separately, Planas signed a memorandum on food safety, animal and plant health, and fisheries that includes the exchange of legislation, business collaboration, cooperation between countries in areas such as fertilizers and the quality of agri-food products (designations of origin, protected geographical indications, and organic production), and the fight against agri-food fraud and illegal fishing. Sources at Moncloa specified last week that the ultimate objective of this agreement is to increase exports in the agricultural and food sectors. According to the same sources, trade between Spain and Vietnam is currently highly unbalanced in favor of the Asian country. Spain imports €5.2 billion from Vietnam and exports €530 million. Although the products Spain sells have greater added value (plastics, manufactured goods, and electronic materials), the government estimates that, with a population of 100 million and a growth rate of 6 percent, this level of exports is insufficient for a market that Spain has failed to tap to date. Albares also signed two agreements on collaboration between the diplomatic schools of the two countries, including cooperation in staff training and the organization of joint academic programs and activities, and on collaboration in the areas of education, culture, and sports. Spanish Investments The latest of the agreements signed this Wednesday, signed by the Secretary of State for Trade, Amparo López Senovilla, is a financial protocol that will support investments by Spanish companies in sectors of special interest (including transportation, infrastructure, energy, and water) in Vietnam through loans from the Spanish Ministry of Economy's Fund for the Internationalization of Business (FIEM) for an amount of €305 million. This agreement will seek to leverage the advantages of Spanish companies in the Vietnamese government's infrastructure projects in areas such as rail (high-speed rail, urban rail, and metro), water, and renewable energy. "Spanish companies are very interested in expanding their presence in Vietnam in relevant sectors where we are a global leader, such as rail infrastructure. We hope that our know-how can contribute to the modernization of mobility that Vietnam is designing," stated Pedro Sánchez. The Prime Minister also highlighted Vietnam's economic growth, which has stood at around six percent annually over the past two decades, "an impressive figure that will lead Vietnam, I am convinced, to become a high-income country by 2050." "On this path to prosperity, Spain can and wants to accompany you," he added. The Prime Minister completed his agenda in Hanoi with meetings with Vietnam's three other top officials: the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam; the President of the Republic, Luong Cuong (to whom he highlighted Vietnam's capacity for dialogue and its commitment to multilateralism); and the President of the National Assembly, Tran Thanh Man. The President of the Government will then travel to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's economic capital, to meet this Thursday with Spanish companies with a presence in Vietnam and participate in a business meeting with companies from both countries. The tour will conclude on Friday in China, where Sánchez will make his third visit to the country in just three years. The two previous visits took place in March 2023 (the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations), during which Sánchez discussed Beijing's twelve-point proposal with President Xi Jinping to end the conflict in Ukraine, and in September 2024, during which he advocated for a negotiated solution to the tariff crisis between China and the EU and during which bilateral agreements on digital trade, services, investment, and cultural cooperation were signed.

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