Vietnam-Romania relations flourishing across the board

At a reception in Hanoi on November 20 for the Romanian Minister who is in Vietnam for the 17th session of the Vietnam-Romania Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation, PM Chinh thanked Romania as the rotating President of the European Union (EU) in 2019 for its support in accelerating the conclusion and signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

He also thanked Romania for donating 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam in 2021 and for offering optimal conditions for the Vietnamese community to stabilise their lives and do business in Romania.

Both sides were glad to see that bilateral relations are growing steadily in many aspects such as politics, diplomacy, economics, security, defence, culture, education and training. In which,

Two-way trade turnover reached US$425 million last year, up 14.8% on year.
Vietnam always places importance on and prioritises its traditional friendship with Romania, the Vietnamese Government leader told his guest.

In the coming ahead, along with intensifying the exchange of all-level delegations on all channels of the Party, State, Government and National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges, he suggested that the two sides need to determine economic - investment - trade cooperation as an important pillar in the bilateral ties.

The two sides should effectively take advantage of the EVFTA, opening markets for each other's goods, intensify the exchange of business delegations, attract investment in fields that Vietnam needs and Romania is strong, such as mechanics, specialised machinery, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and automobile manufacturing, renewable energy, mining and petrochemical, Chinh continued.

The Vietnamese cabinet leader proposed that Romania open its market for Vietnamese goods, especially agricultural and aquatic products such as shrimp, fish, coffee and fruits.

He also asked Romania to incentivize other EU member countries to soon ratify the EVIPA and urge the European Commission (EC) to soon remove the "yellow card" warning on its seafood. He also called for ramping up cooperation in green transition, circular economy development and climate change response, strengthening collaboration in labour, employment, education - training, culture and tourism.

Agreeing with the PM's proposals, Minister Oprea said that during the ongoing Vietnam visit, the Romanian delegation, with the participation of a number of sectors and enterprises, desires to explore cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of oil and gas, agriculture, information technology, pharmaceuticals and tourism to realise agreements and commitments between Vietnam and the EU and with Romania.

He affirmed his nation’s readiness to be a gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter Europe.
The same day, Tran Tuan Anh, Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission, received Minister Oprea, during which he emphasized that ample room remains for cooperation between the two nations.

Anh suggested that Oprea pay attention to boosting collaboration between the two countries in some orientations such as boosting bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation, green transition, circular economy and climate change adaptation, developing high technology, digital transformation and innovation as well as labour, culture and tourism fields.

In response, Oprea affirmed that Romania will step up efforts to bolster all-around cooperation  with Vietnam, especially in economics, trade and tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.