Turkish people show their thankfulness towards the Vietnamese rescue team during the earthquake in February 2023. – VNA/VNS Photo

ROME – The relations between Việt Nam and Turkey have seen unexpected achievements in the past 45 years, and there is potential to lift the bilateral ties to a new height, Vietnamese Ambassador to Turkey Đỗ Sơn Hải has said.

He made the statement in a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in southern Europe on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries (June 7).

According to the ambassador, 2017 marked a historic milestone in the two countries’ trade as two-way trade hit US$3.2 billion, making Việt Nam the second largest partner of Turkey in ASEAN after Malaysia.

The COVID-19 pandemic has partly affected the two countries' trade activities with the two-way trade reaching about $1.65 billion in 2022. However, it remains a bright spot in bilateral relations, Hải said.

Regarding the potential for further cooperation between the two countries, Ambassador Hải underlined the great possibility of expanding and improving the effectiveness of cooperation in trade.

Businesses of the two countries are increasingly interested in each other in various fields, especially agriculture and tourism, he said.

Bilateral trade turnover is the clearest evidence of the development potential of the Việt Nam-Turkey relations, he said, citing data from Việt Nam's General Department of Customs that in the first four months of 2023, Vietnamese exports to Turkey had reached $642.34 million, a year-on-year increase of 29.7 per cent.

A favourable factor for the strengthening of bilateral relations is that national carrier Turkish Airlines, the 7th largest airline in the world in 2022, now runs direct flights from Hà Nội and HCM City to Istanbul, with seven flights per week, he added.

The diplomat went on to say the two countries aim to increase two-way trade to $4 billion by 2025.

At international organisations and multilateral forums, the potential for cooperation between the two countries remains huge.

Regarding activities celebrating the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Việt Nam and Turkey, Ambassador Hải said that in 2023, the embassy has been actively coordinating with the foreign ministry, organisations, agencies, and businesses of Turkey to organise events such as Việt Nam Day in Ankara, fairs in localities to introduce development stages of their bilateral relations, documentaries on 45 years of Việt Nam – Turkey aired by two national television stations, Việt Nam Television VTV and TRT of Turkey.

The ambassador concluded that to promote the development of bilateral ties, the two countries need to boost activities to present their nations, peoples, and markets, and create conditions for the two countries' businesses to access each other's markets, as well as accelerate the establishment of Việt Nam-Turkey joint venture companies.

In addition, the two countries need to promote the organisation of the eighth session of the Việt Nam-Turkey Joint Economic and Trade Committee, he said. The seventh session was held in Hà Nội in July 2017. – VNS