site.btaBulgaria, Vietnam to Work for Increasing Investment, Tourist and Education Exchange

Sofia, July 3 (BTA) - Bulgaria and Vietnam will work for enhancing investments, the tourist exchange and cooperation in the IT and electronics sector. This was the shared position of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and the visiting Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh as they met in Sofia Tuesday, said the President's Press Secretariat.

The two sides agreed that a dynamic political dialogue in recent years will bring about an advancement of economic partnership.

The President hailed the completion of negotiations on a EU-Vietnam free trade agreement and said its entry into force will enhance the development of the investment and trade potential between Bulgaria and Vietnam, will allow Bulgaria to use to the fullest the opportunities offered by the bustling Vietnamese market while itself becoming an attractive destination for investment from Vietnam and other countries in the region.

Radev also pointed out that Vietnam has emerged as one of Asia's hi-tech leaders and this opens up new prospects for bilateral cooperation.

He called for resumption of the work of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said that his country is ready to upgrade its co-chair in the mixed commission and will appoint to this position the Economy Minister.

The opportunities for cooperation in defence and defence technologies were also discussed.

President Radev said that close to 30,000 Vietnamese citizens who have studied at Bulgarian universities and now take ranking positions in the state administration of their country, "create a huge potential and provide a solid groundwork for the advancement of bilateral relations". 

He said that this country is ready to restore the good traditions in bilateral cooperation in higher education, said the Presidential Press Secretariat.