Deputy PM Tran Luu Quang begins official visit to Spain

Batet welcomed Quang’s visit, affirming Spain always attaches importance to and wishes to promote multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam as well as the comprehensive partnership and cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam, especially when Spain is to assume the rotating EU Presidency for the last six months of 2023.

She highly valued Vietnam’s socio-economic development achievements, as well as the positive developments in bilateral relations over the past 45 years, and said that there is still room for stronger cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of culture and people-to-people exchanges.

The Spanish legislator also highly appreciated the close cooperation between the Spanish Parliament and the Vietnamese National Assembly at regional and international inter-parliamentary forums. She welcomed Vietnam’s proposal to increase exchanges between parliamentarians of the two countries to promote bilateral cooperation.

Deputy PM Tran Luu Quang for his part affirmed Vietnam will work alongside Spain to raise their future-oriented strategic partnership to new heights in order to contribute to the post-pandemic economic recovery and sustainable development of each country.

He thanked the Spanish Parliament for early ratification of the EU – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and asked Spain to lobby the parliaments of the remaining EU member states to complete the ratification of the agreement soon.

The two sides agreed to strengthen the exchange of delegations through various channels, and expressed their belief that the cooperative relations between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the Parliament of Spain will be further strengthened both bilaterally and multilaterally.

With regard to the multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, the two sides agreed to expand cooperation, alongside economy and trade, to other fields such as culture, sports, tourism, education-training, agriculture, as well as food security and climate change response.

Batet acknowledged Vietnam’s efforts in combating illegal fishing and said it would support the European Council to soon remove the IUU yellow card for seafood exports from Vietnam.

The two sides also shared views on regional and international issues of mutual concern. They voiced their support for ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea, and settling disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang suggested that Spain continue to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese expatriates in Spain to integrate successfully into the host community, serving as a bridge between the two countries.