VGP – Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said his country advocates early ratification of the Viet Nam-EU free trade agreement (EVFTA) and investment protection agreement (EVIPA) to bring practical benefits to both sides.

Deputy PM, FM Pham Binh Minh (R) and Latvian FM Edgars Rinkevics
hold talks in Ha Noi, July 17, 2019 - Photo: VGP/Hai Minh

Edgars  made the above statement at his talks with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Minh spoke highly of Edgars’ official visit to Viet Nam as he is the first Latvian Foreign Minister visiting the Southeast Asian country since 1996.

The pair discussed on concrete measures to foster the bilateral ties through enhancing exchange of delegations at all levels to seek opportunities for expanding cooperation across fields, especially trade and investment.

Both sides agreed to create favorable conditions for their exports to penetrate respective markets and other surrounding countries, including garments and textiles and footwear from Viet Nam and timber products from Latvia.

The two sides also exchanged measures to step up cooperation in other potential areas such as education and training, labor, tourism and transport. Minh welcomed the signing of an agreement on education cooperation on the occasion of Edgars’ official visit to Viet Nam.

Both the host and the guest highly valued the two countries’ cooperative ties at multilateral forums and vowed to further strengthen coordination at the UN, ASEM and other international forums.

Deputy PM, FM Minh took the occasion to extend thanks to Latvia for having backed Viet Nam to win a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2020-2021 tenure, hoping for continued support from the Latvian side as Viet Nam undertakes the role.

Regarding regional and international issues of common concerns,  both sides underlined the importance of peace, stability, security and safety of navigation and aviation. The Latvian side voiced support for settlement of disputes in the East Sea via peaceful means on the basis of international law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).