Uruguayan Roving Ambassador Niko Schvarz ,who recently visited Vietnam from August 16 to September 9, said that the first Uruguayan ambassador to Vietnam, Carlos Irigaray, will arrive in Hanoi soon.

During his visit to Vietnam, Schvarz met with a number of officials of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In the meetings, both sides emphasized the desire for an increase in bilateral trade.

Marcelo Magnou, an official from the Bilateral Economics Department under the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cited the Uruguayan Customs statistics which show that two-way trade between the two countries hit a record high of US$52.96 million last year.

Vietnam mainly exports fish products and footwear to Uruguay and imports wood, contemporary medicine, wine, and fruits from the South American country.

Uruguay established diplomatic ties with Vietnam on August 11, 1993. Until now, the Vietnamese ambassador to Argentina has also served as Vietnamese ambassador to Uruguay, while the Uruguayan ambassador to Malaysia has acted as Uruguayan ambassador to Vietnam.

In November 2007, President Tabare Vazquez became Uruguay’s first state leader to officially visit Vietnam. On the occasion, the two sides signed a frame agreement for bilateral cooperation.