Healthy Vietnam-Bulgaria relations to reach new heights

Ambassador Oanh emphasized the importance of the visit at a recent interview given to the media, noting that this is the first official visit by a Vietnamese diplomatic leader since Bulgaria’s institutional change. The trip takes place in the context of positive developments in the traditional friendly relations and all-round cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria. It is noteworthy that since 2013, high-ranking leaders of the two countries have affirmed their desire to elevate the countries’ bilateral ties to a strategic partnership.

During the visit, Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Minh will hold talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Ekaterina Zaharieva and meet with other senior leaders to discuss international and regional issues of mutual concern as well as measures to continue tightening  time-tested ties to elevate bilateral relations to a higher level.

The visit aims to implement Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of Vietnam’s international relations with a desire to be a friend and trustworthy partner in the international community. It also shows that Vietnam attaches great importance to fostering ties with traditional friends in the broad process of integration.

Building on firm foundations, bilateral ties have constantly developed over the past nearly seven decades. Especially in recent years, traditional ties have seen remarkable progress in diverse fields, ranging from politics-diplomacy, economics-trade, defence-security, science-technology, education-training, to culture, sports and tourism, and cooperation among localities.

Regarding politics-diplomacy, the two sides have, over the years, maintained high-level exchange visits, held consultations on issues of shared concern, and closely cooperated at regional and international forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations, ASEAN-EU, and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). Bulgaria regards Vietnam as one of its most important partners in Southeast Asia, and Vietnam can support Bulgaria in enhancing ties with other ASEAN member states. Meanwhile, Bulgaria – a member of the European Union since 2007 – will serve as a bridge helping Vietnam develop more extensive connections with EU countries.

Bulgaria is one of the leading EU countries in adopting the EU-Vietnam Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA). Bulgarian leaders have repeatedly reaffirmed their support for the early signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The Vietnamese Ambassador also extolled the great strides in economic and trade partnerships over recent years but they are still relatively modest, unstable and still below their full potential and expectations. The diplomat said that at a next meeting of the Vietnam-Bulgaria Inter-Government Committee on economic and scientific-technical cooperation, a score of specific measures regarding policies, sectors, products and businesses will be devised in order to soon realise a “new economic cooperation model” and  further boost economic, trade, and scientific-technical cooperation based on their available potential and strengths. This is viewed as a good foundation for the two countries to solidify future cooperation.

With regard to the prospects for broader cooperation, Ambassador Oanh said the two countries boast great potential and foundation for the enhancement of comprehensive cooperation in the years to come, especially in economics, trade and investment. Additionally, major focus should be placed on fields of both nations’ strengths such as agriculture, health, pharmaceuticals, bio-technological application, information and communication technology, energy, education- training, and labour to make a new breakthrough in relations.

Each side need to pay greater attention to improving the quality and quantity of key products for each other’s markets. For instance, Vietnam mainly exports cotton yarn, coffee beans, natural rubber, cashew nuts and clothes to Bulgaria, while it imports wheat, chemicals, microbial fertilizer, dried fruits, vegetable oil, veterinary medicine and pesticides from the European country.

Labour is one of the most promising fields for cooperation between the two countries in the near future, as Bulgaria has a dire shortage of labour forces in the fields of agriculture, industry and services. It is forecast that Bulgaria needs around 50,000 workers, and up to 500,000 in the medium and long term.

Bulgaria recently adopted a new Labour Migration and Labour Mobility Act to deal with their labour shortage. Vietnamese workers have captured special attention from Bulgarian businesses.

To grasp this opportunity, it is necessary for Vietnam to supply highly skilled and strongly disciplined workers to meet Bulgarian businesses’ requirements, Oanh noted.

Education and training is a traditional field of cooperation. Vietnam and Bulgaria are currently implementing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on education cooperation signed in 2012 and closely collaborating in drafting a new MoU for the 2018-2022 period to sign in the future towards a considerable increase in the number of scholarships. Furthermore, cooperation models and lecturer and student exchanges among universities, colleges and educational and training establishments are being encouraged to increase the efficiency of cooperation.

With great potential and efforts, the ties of traditional friendship and all-round cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria will grow and thrive in order to meet their peoples’ demand and benefits, Ambassador Oanh concluded.