Romanian Athenaeum concert hall, a landmark in Bucharest, Romania. Photo courtesy of embassy

On the occasion of the Great Union Day of Romania, Ambassador Prof Dr Emil Ghitulescu sends a message to celebrate.

This year, Romania celebrates the 101st anniversary of December 1, 1918, when the Great National Assembly, held in the ancient city Alba Iulia, proclaimed the unification of all Romanian territories, including Transylvania and Banat, within the historic boundaries of the motherland. But, Romania has not only 101 years of history, and, as Việt Nam, is a millennial country.

On January 2007, Romania became member of the prestigious family of the European Union. In the last 2-3 years, Romania was one of the fastest growing EU countries economically. Compared to 2007, the Gross National Product of Romania is now more than doubled.

Despite the geographical distance, Romania and Việt Nam share many similarities and the same mentality, as generous, friendly and hospitable peoples, supporters of a world of peace, co-operation, development and integration, and our countries have been working together to realise these noble goals.

During the last decades, Romanian universities trained more than 4,000 specialists for Việt Nam, many of them contributing, as experts, to build Việt Nam into a modern and prosperous country, and connecting bridges of friendship and co-operation between our countries.

The friendly relationship between Romania and Việt Nam overcame the challenges of time and history. The Romanian people are happy to witness the tremendous progress achieved by the Vietnamese people in economic development and social advancement, as well as the rising economic stratus and reputation of this country in the international arena.

I want to mention some of the principal objectives in relations between Romania and Việt Nam:

- The continued increase of our bilateral trade, with the Romanian side interested in reducing the trade deficit, not through the decrease of imports from Việt Nam, but by increasing and diversifying Romanian exports;

- To enhance our economic co-operation in the fields of energy, construction, railways, tourism, IT and others to the high level of the two dynamic economies;

- To increase sectoral co-operation between Romania and Việt Nam in many projects, including in education, culture, science and technology;

- Developing relations between municipalities and other localities of Romania and People’s Committees of Vietnamese cities and provinces, like co-operation between the province of Tulcea and Bến Tre, and ties between Timisoara and Đà Nẵng;

- To continue facilitating the recruitment of Vietnamese workers for the Romanian economy, under the provisions of the memorandum of understanding in labour and social protection, signed in November 2018.

In 2019, the relationship between Romania and Việt Nam was developed by some significant events and achievements.

First of all, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc visited Romania on April 14-16, the first visit to my country, from the Vietnamese side at this high level in the last 30 years. It was a historic event, with many meetings and talks, and with agreements on important co-operation programmes.

On May 14 in Hà Nội, at the level of deputy minister of foreign affairs, there was scheduled a new round of political bilateral consultation. The head of the Romanian delegation also participated, as main speaker, in a conference in Nha Trang on May 15-16, promoting the economic and social inclusion in Asia and Europe.

On June 30 in Hà Nội, the historic documents between Việt Nam and the EU - the free trade agreement and the investment protection agreement - were signed, in the presence of PM Phúc and the Romanian Presidency of European Council. These agreements with Việt Nam are exemplary of the EU policy, bringing multi-faceted benefits for European and Vietnamese companies, workers and consumers.

On October 3-4 in Bucharest, the 16th Session of the Romania-Việt Nam Joint Economic Commission was held with large and important participation of the Romanian and Vietnamese businessmen.

In the next year, Romania and Việt Nam will celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations a precious heritage, and it is our responsibility to maintain and enrich this treasure, which previous generations have cultivated.

To mark this event, Romania and Việt Nam will exchange important delegations in political and economic fields. The Romanian Friendship Parliamentary Group and the Friendship Associations will hold cultural and political activities.

Also, the Embassy of Romania in Hà Nội and the Honorary Consulate of Romania in HCM City, which opened in June 2018 and is headed by Lý Nhã Kỳ, will prepare conferences, illustrated by video, exhibitions, launching of the book, and meetings with students and representatives of Vietnamese press and local television channels regarding this special event.

The year 2020 will substantially contribute to developing and deepening bilateral relations between Romania and Việt Nam. VNS