Mr. Le Duy Thanh, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee of Vinh Phuc, and Mr. Ludmil Dimitrov Veselinov, Governor of Pernik Province, Bulgaria, sign an MoU on establishing friendship relations between the two provinces

Pernik Province is located near Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, where the MoU was signed. The province has six municipalities: Pernik, Radomir, Breznik, Tran, Batanovtsi and Zemen. Pernik City is the administrative and economic center of the province, with an area of 2,390 km2 and a population of 130,000 people. Pernik Province has a strong industrial base, especially in mining, geology, steelmaking, machine manufacturing and cement production. The province also aims to diversify its economy by developing other sectors such as agriculture, textile and garment, food processing, pharmaceutical production and services, with a focus on modernization and environmental protection.

Pernik Province has a rich cultural and natural heritage, with many attractions such as landscapes, historical and cultural sites, monuments, monasteries and churches. The province is famous for hosting the Surva Carnival every January in Pernik City, which attracts many international artists and was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage in 2015.

The friendship between Vinh Phuc Province and Pernik Province is based on the traditional friendly relationship between Vietnam and Bulgaria, which has lasted for 70 years. With the support of the two countries, the two provinces have cooperated and exchanged experiences in various fields to foster their mutual development. In line with its policy of enhancing international cooperation and expanding friendly relations with foreign localities to serve socio-economic development, Vinh Phuc Province signed the MoU with Pernik Province to formalize their partnership and cooperation.

The MoU signing is an important milestone that opens up new opportunities for cooperation in all fields of mutual interest. It also facilitates the exchange and collaboration between the governments, businesses and people of the two provinces. The two sides agreed to cooperate in areas such as investment promotion and business survey; high-tech agriculture and food processing; trade; environmental protection; energy development, especially renewable energy; science and technology; cultural exchanges; tourism service development; and high-quality human resource training. This cooperation will also contribute to strengthening the good traditional friendship between Vietnam and Bulgaria.

Mr. Thanh expressed his hope that with the strong support of the two countries and the efforts of the two provinces, the friendly relations and cooperation in various fields will achieve fruitful results in the future.