site.btaVice President Popova Confers with Vietnamese Counterpart, National Assembly Chairman, Prime Minister

Vice President Popova Confers with Vietnamese Counterpart, National Assembly Chairman, Prime Minister

Sofia/Hanoi, November 27 (BTA) - The first day of Vice President Margarita Popova's official visit to Vietnam included meetings with Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The Bulgarian guest was received by her Vietnamese counterpart with an official ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, said the President Press Secretariat on Friday.

Popova and Doan voiced their satisfaction with the dynamic high-level political dialogue in recent years, which gives a new impetus to the further reinforcement and deepening of bilateral relations in the direction of building a strategic partnership.

The Bulgarian Vice President underscored after the meeting with her Vietnamese counterpart that Bulgaria attaches special importance to the joint declaration for strategic partnership and its annex for a new model of economic cooperation, which were adopted during President Rosen Plevneliev's state visit to Vietnam in October of 2013. The declaration and its annex are seen as founding documents for the new type of partnership between Bulgaria and Vietnam, which corresponds to the new realities and each country's place and role in regional and international aspect, the Bulgarian Vice President said. She was adamant that the signed bilateral documents will give impetus to economic relations.

Popova thanked for the opportunity to visit Vietnam in the year of the 65th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations.

She said it is important to remember how the Vietnamese people, who have studied and worked in Bulgaria, have contributed to bilateral ties.

Vice President Doan said she is glad that she herself has contributed to Vietnam's wonderful relations with Bulgaria during the four years of her university studies in Bulgaria. "My stay in Bulgaria had a formative effect on me as a person and a professional. I brought the knowledge I had acquired there back to my country," Doan said.

She expressed hope that Bulgaria's role in the EU will increase. She said Hanoi can assist Sofia in deepening its relations with the ASEAN countries.

The two vice presidents concurred that the areas in which bilateral cooperation can be promoted most rapidly are culture, education, human resource training, tourism, justice, the prevention of corruption and economic crime, healthcare, and regional interaction.

Speaking with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Popova welcomed Hanoi's aspiration to upgrade its relations with the EU. She said she hopes that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will be signed shortly, as it will have a positive impact on bilateral trade and economic ties.

During Popova's meeting with National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, who also studied in Bulgaria, the sides underscored the important role of their countries' parliaments in advancing high-level political dialogue.

"For more than 50 years, the peoples of Bulgaria and Vietnam have proved that neither distance, nor historical trials and political conjuncture can be obstacles to mutual respect and interest in a foreign culture," said Vice President Popova in a lecture at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam in Hanoi on Friday. It was dedicated to the past, present and the future of Bulgarian-Vietnamese relations, the President's press secretariat reported.

Popova said that the dialogue between the two countries is "full and far-reaching" with concrete steps taken to advance bilateral cooperation in all spheres.

The bilateral documents signed during a state visit of President Rosen Plevneliev in 2013 are the foundations for a new type of partnership between the two countries. "Because of its strategic location Bulgaria could be very useful for Vietnamese entrepreneurs as a springboard to markets in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. For its part Vietnam could help Bulgaria in its contacts with other Southeast Asian countries," said Popova.

In her lecture, the Vice President highlighted tourism development and boosting trade and economic relations and cultural and educational exchange. In the 2014/2015 year, some 70 Vietnamese nationals studied in Bulgarian higher education schools, she said.

In Hanoi, Popova met with the leadership of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam. The bank Chairman, Tran Bac Ha, voiced hope that the economic relations between the two countries will be expanded in the traditional industries, such as food and tobacco.