Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh held talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Tomislav Donchev on September 30 as part of his ongoing visit to Bulgaria.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh (L) and his Bulgarian
counterpart Tomislav Donchev (Photo: VNA) 

The two sides briefed each other on the situation in each country and discussed regional and international issues of shared concern.

 They noted that the Vietnam-Bulgaria economic-trade cooperation has seen progress over the years, but has yet to match their potential. Two-way trade has reached only about 100 million USD per year.  

 In order to improve the partnership, they agreed to hold the 24th meeting of the Vietnam-Bulgaria Inter-Governmental Committee on economic cooperation soon, while strengthening trade and investment promotion activities, encouraging and creating optimal conditions for businesses of both sides to seek partners, especially in areas of Bulgaria’s strength and Vietnam’s demand such as agriculture, pharmaceutical chemistry and IT.

 Binh thanked the people and Government of Bulgaria for supporting Vietnam during the past struggle for independence and current national construction and development, affirming that Vietnam always attaches great importance to developing friendship and all-round cooperation with traditional friends in central and eastern Europe, including Bulgaria.

 He highly valued the growth in traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries, especially in politics with the regular exchange of delegations, including many high-level ones.

 On the occasion, the Vietnamese Deputy PM conveyed invitations from Vietnamese leaders to Bulgarian leaders to visit Vietnam on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations in 2020.

 For his part, Bulgarian Deputy PM Donchev showed his admiration for the achievements that Vietnam has gained over the years, especially high economic growth and stable social welfare as well as rising international and regional position.

 He affirmed his country’s support to strengthening the relations between Vietnam and the European Union, including the early signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement.

 He lauded the efforts and contributions of the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria to the host country’s growth and the development of ties between the two countries.

 He described the number of nearly 4,000 Vietnamese people who used to work and study in Bulgaria as an important basis for the development of bilateral friendship and all-round cooperation.

 The two sides concurred to further strengthen cooperation in culture, tourism, science-technology, labour, security and defence, while speeding up the signing of agreement on education collaboration in the 2019-2022 period.

 At the talks, Binh thanked Bulgaria for supporting Vietnam to run for the position of non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure.

 They pledged to continue cooperating with and supporting each other at multilateral forums and international organisations.

 Regarding the East Sea issue, the two Deputy PMs underlined the significance of maintaining peace, stability, maritime and aviation in the region, the need to solve disputes by peaceful means and respect for international law, especially the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).

 Earlier the same day, Deputy PM Binh met President of Bulgaria's Supreme Court of Lozan Panov, during which he affirmed that Vietnam wishes to learn Bulgaria’s experience in personnel training and court reform, thus enhancing the efficiency of court activities in Vietnam.

 Both sides agreed that authorised agencies of the two sides should work more closely in judicial and administrative reform as well as law building.

 Binh conveyed the Chief Judge of the Vietnam’s invitation to President of the Supreme People’s Court Panov to visit Vietnam.

 Panov held that Vietnam and Bulgaria have great potential for cooperation, especially in court activities, organised and hi-tech crime prevention and combat.