He was informed that Vietnamese nationals residing in Brazil now number 200, mostly in Sao Paulo city, and they still keep the homeland close to their hearts.
Mr Manh said he is happy to hear that despite living far from the homeland, Vietnamese nationals in Brazil unite and help each other in life and business activities, abide by Brazilian law and integrate well into the local community. He reiterated the Party and State’s consistent policy for overseas Vietnamese and encouraged them to make more contributions to the homeland.
Later, General Secretary Manh met with the Governor of the Rio state, Sergio Cabral, and attended the inauguration ceremony of the Brazil-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce.
Mr Manh’s first visit to Brazil aims to further develop the multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Brazil towards stability and sustainability.
Brazil was the first country in South America to open an embassy in Hanoi on May 8, 1989, after the two countries established diplomatic ties. Despite being at a modest level, bilateral economic and trade relations have been on the rise in recent years. In 2006, two-way trade exchanges reached more than US$200 million.
Mr Manh’s visit in media spotlight
Meanwhile, Nhan Dan (People) daily ran an editorial on Vietnam-Brazil multifaceted cooperation on the occasion of the first visit by Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh to the South American country.
The visit, starting on May 28, will mark a new step of development of bilateral cooperation, according to the editorial.
It recalled the progress of the Vietnam-Brazil relations since the two countries established diplomatic ties on May 8, 1989. The two countries have supported each other in various international issues at multilateral and international forums.
Brazil was the first country in South America to open an embassy in Hanoi (in September 1994). Vietnam opened its General Consulate in Sao Paulo city in November 1998 and its first embassy in Brasilia on August 2000.
The two countries have exchanged many high-level delegations and Brazilian President Lula da Silva plans to visit Vietnam this year.
The newspaper also highlighted the signing of cooperation documents between the two countries, including agreements on cooperation in culture and trade, and the exchange of diplomatic notes on normal trade relations treatment (NTRT) status.
The two countries have been accelerating their negotiations to sign other agreements on cooperation in sports training and energy.
Vietnam and Brazil also saw their two-way trade rising to US$204 million in 2006, doubling the figure of the previous year.
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