Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had a meeting with the outgoing Vietnamese Ambassador Lê Viết Duyên on March 13. — Photo from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's Facebook page

HAVANA — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro received outgoing Vietnamese Ambassador Lê Viết Duyên on March 13, highlighting the two countries’ fraternity and friendship and calling for stronger cooperation to obtain concrete results in the fields of trade and production.

President Maduro bestowed the first-class Order of Francisco de Miranda upon Duyên in recognition of the diplomat’s contributions over the past years.

He emphasised the milestones in cooperation development and expansion with Việt Nam, expressing his admiration for the Vietnamese people’s steadfastness in the fight for national independence and the national reconstruction to help turn the country into one of the fastest-growing nations in Asia nowadays.

The host expressed his delight at the progress, modest but important, in the partnerships with Việt Nam in such areas as trade, agriculture, education, and health care, as well as the two countries’ close coordination in all issues, from international politics to geopolitics and diplomacy.

He called on both countries to make utmost efforts to ensure bilateral activities generate concrete results and promote trade and agricultural links.

Venezuela is now well-position to receive knowledge and technological cooperation to step up food production, Maduro noted, asking for strengthening ties between Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil and gas company of his country, and the Việt Nam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) to reach major agreements.

For his part, Ambassador Duyên expressed his honour to receive the first-class Order of Francisco de Miranda, a noble decoration the Venezuelan President presents to domestic or foreign individuals with special contributions to the South American country’s sciences or development.

He also thanked the Venezuelan people and Government for their sentiment towards Việt Nam.

President Maduro voiced his wish to revisit Việt Nam soon to reach large agreements and reinforce bilateral cooperation and friendship. — VNS