The consensus was reached at talks between Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and his Nicaraguan counterpart, Samuel Santos Lopez, in Hanoi on November 24, during his three-day official visit to Vietnam.

Minister Lopez expressed willingness to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to penetrate the market and set up cooperation and investment ties in Nicaragua.

The two ministers also agreed to promote negotiations for the signing of cooperation agreements, creating a legal framework for bilateral exchanges, particularly in economic, trade and investment areas.

They appreciated the constant development of relations between the two countries through high-level meetings on the sidelines of international conferences and multilateral forums.

Despite the moderate level of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, both sides have potential for further development in the fields of each country’s strength such as agriculture, aquaculture, telecom, energy and production of consumer goods, they said.

The two ministers also compared notes on regional and international issues of common concern and agreed to continue coordinating closely at international organizations and multilateral forums such as the UN, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Forum on East Asia-Latin American Cooperation (FEALAC).

After the talks, they signed a memorandum of understanding on establishment of political consultation mechanism between the two foreign ministries.