Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh congratulated Austria for the successful organization of the fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament during his phone conversation with Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz on Thursday.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh

He also expressed the pleasure to witness the wide cooperation between the two countries over the over the past nearly 50 years since the establishment of the sides’ diplomatic relations.

Pham affirmed Viet Nam always treasures the traditional and friendly relations with Austria, expecting to cement and deepen the relationship in all fields.

In reply, Kurz said that Viet Nam is a trusted and important partner of Austria in the Southeast Asian region.

As the two countries will mark the 50th founding anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2022, the two PMs agreed soon resume exchange of delegations and high-level contacts and consolidate cooperative mechanisms, including the Viet Nam-Austria Joint Committee on Economic and Trade Investment.

They were pleased at the positive outcomes of the bilateral trade and investment ties despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with Austria remaining one of Viet Nam’s top 10 export markets in Europe.

The PMs pledged to work closely in order to effectively optimize opportunities brought by the Europe Union-Viet Nam free trade agreement (EVFTA).

Both sides agreed to step up cooperation in education and training, science and technology and support each other at international forums and organizations.

Pham asked the Austrian Government to facilitate import of Vietnamese agricultural products especially seasonal fruits, coffee, pepper, and cashew, ratify the Viet Nam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) soon, and lend a voice so that the European Commission would soon remove “yellow card” on Vietnamese seafood products. 

Pham suggested asked Austria share its idle vaccine with Viet Nam and transfer of COVID-19 vaccine and drug production technology. He also asked Austria to urge the COVAX Facility to speed up vaccine allocation to Viet Nam in the time to come.

The two PMs discussed on the East Sea issue, underlining that maintaining freedom of navigation and aviation, security and peace in the East Sea is the common interest of the international community. They voiced support for peaceful resolution of disputes on the basis of international laws especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. 

On this occasion, PM Pham invited his Austrian counterpart to visit Viet Nam in 2022 on the occasion of the 50th founding anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.