President lauds Chilean Ambassador's contributions to growth of bilateral ties: President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (fourth, right) and Chilean Ambassador Patricio Becker (fourth, left) take a photo with participants at the meeting. (Photo: VNA)

President Phuc said he was impressed by his phone talks in March 2021 with then Chilean President Sebastian Piñera on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Chile.

He agreed with the Chilean Ambassador's proposal on increasing the exchange of all-level delegations and promoting economic and trade cooperation activities.

During their meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Leaders' Week 2022 in Thailand, he and his Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric discussed the strengthening of the bilateral trade ties on the basis of the Vietnam-Chile Free Trade Agreement, and the early implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Vietnam hopes to welcome the Chilean President soon, he added.

Currently, Chile is the fourth largest trade partner of Vietnam in the Latin American region, while Vietnam is the biggest partner of Chile among ASEAN countries, he noted, expressing his hope that the two sides will further bolster their trade ties, especially in the import and export of farm produce.

Chilean products such as cherries, salmon and wine are popular in Vietnam, he added.

The State leader said he believes that with the warm sentiments towards Vietnam, the ambassador will continue to work for stronger ties between the two countries in any position.

For his part, Ambassador Becker said that despite COVID-19 impacts, two-way trade still reached 1.6 billion USD in the first nine months of this year.

Recently, many Chilean firms have visited Vietnam to seek partnership opportunities in the trade of agricultural products. He said he hopes more activities will be held to introduce Vietnamese products to the Latin American market.

In the time to come, authorised agencies of both sides will work together to increase the export of Vietnamese fruits to Chile, and the import of Chilean goods into Vietnam, while speeding up procedures to sell Vietnamese mangos in Chile, he said.

The Ambassador proposed both sides continue to promote the implementation of the CPTPP, which is expected to bring many cooperation opportunities to their businesses.