Vietnam and Hungary vow to take comprehensive partnership to new heights

Orban affirmed that Vietnam is always Hungary’s most important partner in Southeast Asia, while Chinh who arrived in Budapest on the same day for an official visit said Vietnam always values and wishes to strengthen relations with Hungary, Vietnam’s first comprehensive partner in Central Eastern Europe.

The two sides agreed to continue to increase reciprocal visit exchanges at all levels and through different channels to further enhance political trust and mutual understanding, creating a foundation to promote and expand bilateral cooperation in all fields.

Concurring that economic-trade-investment cooperation is an important pillar in bilateral relations, the two sides stressed the need to further spur existing cooperation mechanisms, including the Meeting of the Vietnam-Hungary Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation. They agreed to early hold the 10th meeting of this committee, and encourage businesses of the two countries to fully and effectively implement the European Union – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Chinh proposed that Hungary create favorable conditions for Vietnamese products, especially agro-forestry-fisheries items, to penetrate its market. He affirmed that Vietnam acts as a gateway for Hungarian products to enter its market and the larger and lucrative market of ASEAN.

He thanked Hungary for supporting Vietnam in negotiations towards signing the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and ratifying the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Orban for his part assured his guest that as the rotating EU President for the second half of 2024, Hungary would encourage the remaining EU member states to ratify the EVIPA. He also acknowledged Chinh’s proposal regarding the European Commission’s removal of its illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) warnings against Vietnamese seafood exports to the bloc.

Orban said Vietnam is one of Hungary’s most potential markets in Asia-Pacific and more and more Hungarian businesses are keen to expand investment and business in the Southeast Asian nation.

He welcomed the organization of a joint business forum during Chinh’s visit, and affirmed Hungary’s readiness to facilitate Vietnamese businesses’ operation in potential fields such as information technology and automobile industry in the country.

With regard to education and training, both sides welcomed the positive results recorded in such cooperation in recent times. Chinh thanked the Hungarian Government for granting 200 scholarships to Vietnam every year, the largest number of scholarships offered by an EU member state.

They appreciated the close and fruitful cooperation mechanism between the two countries’ universities, as evidenced in a series of cooperation documents to be signed between Vietnamese and Hungarian educational institutions during the visit.

The two sides agreed to further enhance cooperation in other traditional fields, such as culture, sports, tourism, laboyr, science - technology, natural resources - environment, agriculture, and water management. They also underscored the importance of expanding cooperation in new fields, such as circular economy, innovation, green finance, renewable energy, and digital transformation, among others.

Orban highly appreciated the Vietnamese community in Hungary making positive contributions to the local socio-economic development. Meanwhile, Chinh proposed that the Hungarian Government create more favoyrable conditions for the community to integrate more deeply into the host society, contributing to promoting traditional friendly relations between the two countries.

Exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, the two PMs affirmed their support for resolving disputes by peaceful means, in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter.

After the talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of three cooperation documents in the fields of security, diplomacy and culture.