Spain wants new breakthroughs in relations with Vietnam: official
A senior official of Spain’s Congress of Deputies expressed his hope for greater strides in cooperation with Vietnam in the time ahead while meeting with Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Do Ba Ty in Madrid on October 1.
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At the event, the two sides highly valued their countries’ strategic partnership.
The host official noted Spain was the first European nation to have set up a strategic partnership with Vietnam. Over the last 10 years, bilateral economic and trade ties have enjoyed many breakthroughs. Both sides have maintained cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks like the United Nations and cooperation mechanisms of the European Union.
He said his country wishes bilateral cooperation will enjoy more breakthrough developments in the time to come.
For his part, NA Vice Chairman Ty said the friendship and collaboration between Vietnam and Spain are currently on an upward trend, especially after the elevation of their ties to the strategic partnership towards the future in December 2009.
He affirmed that Vietnam always sees Spain as an important partner in the EU and hopes to promote bilateral connections, particularly in economy, trade and investment.
Over the past years, cooperation in economy, trade and investment has been growing unceasingly and become a major pillar in the countries’ relations. However, although the trade revenue of 3.15 billion USD in 2018 is an encouraging figure, it has yet to match the two sides’ potential and expectation, according to Ty.
During the session, the officials spoke highly of the two governments’ promotion of a meeting of the Inter-governmental Committee this year. They agreed to support the promotion of stronger links between Vietnamese and Spanish businesses, and for organisation of the first meeting of the committee on economic, trade and investment cooperation soon.
The two sides also called for stronger ties in the fields that match both countries’ potential and demand like oil and gas exploitation, renewable energy, infrastructure building, tourism, hi-tech agriculture, environmental protection and climate change response.
The host official added Spain has strength in tourism, which makes up 15-20 percent of its GDP, noting that he hopes the two countries will step up ties in this regard.
On this occasion, Vice Chairman Ty thanked Spain for advocating the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), asking it to continue pushing for ratification of these deals.
Both sides shared the view that the early enforcement of the EVFTA and EVIPA will generate practical benefits for businesses and people of the two nations.
At the meeting, Ty also called on the countries to keep close coordination at multilateral mechanisms, especially within the framework of the UN, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the Vietnam-EU cooperation.
As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, Chair of ASEAN in 2020 and Chair of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) for 2019-2020, Vietnam is ready to work with Spain and countries around the world to maintain peace, stability and security and to bolster relations among regions around the world, he noted.
He also asked Spain to continue enhancing ties in defence-security and personnel training to help Vietnam promote its defence capacity, thus contributing to regional and global peace and stability.
Regarding parliamentary cooperation, both sides agreed to increase mutual visits and the exchange of information and experience, while coordinating with and supporting each other at multilateral parliamentary forums of which Vietnam and Spain are members like the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP).
Vice Chairman Ty wishes the two parliaments will foster ties in supervising the implementation of the two governments’ cooperation deals, and support the countries’ governments, localities, businesses and people to boost mutual understanding and economic links.
