Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn held talks in Hà Nội yesterday with the Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon, who is on a two-day visit to Việt Nam. VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh

HÀ NỘI — Visiting Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon has said that Slovenia would soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and prompt the EC to remove the IUU yellow card for Vietnamese seafood products.

She made the statement during the talks yesterday with Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn as she is on a two-day visit to Việt Nam.

Minister Sơn said Việt Nam always attached importance to and wished to strengthen the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with the Republic of Slovenia, a traditional friend and partner of Việt Nam in Central Eastern Europe.

Minister Sơn welcomed and highly appreciated the Slovenian diplomat Tanja's first visit to Việt Nam, considering it an important milestone in promoting bilateral relations.

The Slovenian diplomat said that Slovenia would ratify the EVIPA and coordinate to organise the 3rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic Cooperation in October 2023 in Slovenia.

The Slovenian diplomat Tanja expressed her impression of Việt Nam’s positive socio-economic development achievements in recent years and said she highly appreciated the increasingly important role and position of the country in the region and the world.

She said Slovenia always attached importance to and wished to strengthen relations with Việt Nam, Slovenia's leading and important partner in Southeast Asia.

The two foreign ministers said they were pleased to see that over the past 30 years, the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries had been developing positively in many fields, especially in politics-diplomacy, and economy-trade.

They also agreed that the two countries had plenty of room to strengthen their bilateral cooperation further and agreed on measures to boost cooperation in many potential fields.

Regarding politics and diplomacy, the two sides agreed that it was necessary to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones in 2024 on the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The two sides would also closely coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums and international organisations, including the United Nations, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the ASEAN-EU cooperation framework.

The two ministers highly appreciated signing a cooperation agreement between the two foreign ministries on this occasion, creating a legal foundation to promote cooperation between the two ministries and contributing to enhancing political understanding and trust between the two nations.

In terms of economy and trade, despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic cooperation between the two countries has maintained a positive growth momentum. Two-way trade in 2022 reached over US$570 million, up 15 per cent compared to 2021.

Sơn praised the Slovenian side’s organisation of a business delegation for accompanying the Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during her visit to Việt Nam.

He suggested the two sides closely coordinate to take advantage of opportunities brought by the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), as well as encouraged Slovenia to increase investment in areas where Việt Nam has needs and Slovenia has strengths such as shipping, logistics, water and waste management.

She also wished that the two sides promote cooperation in green technology, renewable energy, environmental protection, seaports, and logistics.

She noted that the Slovenian Parliament was in the process of ratifying the EVIPA Agreement and affirmed its support for the EC soon to remove the IUU yellow card for Vietnamese seafood.

The two foreign ministers also agreed to coordinate in organising cultural, art and people-to-people exchanges to celebrate the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations in 2024.

During the talks, the two sides also discussed several regional and international issues of mutual concern. Regarding the East Sea (known internationally as the South China Sea), the two sides shared the importance of ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea as well as settling disputes by peaceful means based on international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

After the talks, the two leaders signed a cooperation agreement between the two ministries.

The Slovenian top diplomat also met with Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính. — VNS