President Võ Văn Thưởng and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen jointly held a press conference after the high-level meeting between the two countries. VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

VIENNA – Vietnamese President Võ Văn Thưởng reaffirmed his nation's strong commitment to valuing and enhancing the friendly and multi-faceted cooperation with Austria, a reliable friend of Việt Nam within the European Union (EU).

He made these remarks on Monday at a joint press conference after holding talks with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen as part of his official visit to Austria at the invitation of his counterpart in the European country.

During the meeting, both leaders exchanged information about the situation in their respective countries, discussed cooperative directions, and proposed measures to further strengthen and deepen the traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between Việt Nam and Austria.

President Alexander Van der Bellen warmly welcomed the Vietnamese leader's official visit to Austria and congratulated Việt Nam on its significant achievements in socio-economic development.

He emphasised Austria's high regard for the longstanding friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Việt Nam, viewing Việt Nam as an important partner in implementing its foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in trade and investment.

He expressed a desire to further enhance economic, educational, and cultural ties between the two nations.

He said he hoped that the visit would strengthen political trust between the two countries and create new momentum to promote the Việt Nam-Austria relationship in the coming period, for the benefit of both nations' people and for peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

During the discussions on bilateral relations, both leaders expressed satisfaction with the substantial and effective development between the two countries over the past half-century in various areas, including political-diplomatic, trade-investment, development cooperation, culture, education, vocational training, science, technology, and people-to-people exchanges.

To increase political trust and fully tap the significant potential for cooperation between the two countries, both leaders agreed to enhance exchanges at all levels, especially at the high level and across different channels. They also discussed the effective utilisation of existing cooperation mechanisms and explored the establishment of new mechanisms suitable for the current context.

Regarding economic cooperation, the two leaders positively assessed the economic, trade, and investment relationship between the two countries, with bilateral trade reaching US$2.79 billion in 2022.

President Thưởng suggested that both sides continue to closely coordinate and effectively leverage the benefits of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). This included considering measures to facilitate access to each other's markets for their respective key export items and creating favourable conditions and incentives for Austrian businesses to enhance investment in Việt Nam, particularly in areas such as automobile and railway production, medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals.

President Alexander Van der Bellen emphasised that Việt Nam was Austria's largest partner in Southeast Asia and expressed the hope for both sides to pay attention to improving the balance of bilateral trade.

At the talks, President Thưởng proposed that Austria promptly complete the ratification procedures for the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to facilitate equal and beneficial investment relations between the two sides.

He also requested Austria's support and promotion of the European Commission (EC) to remove the yellow card IUU status for Vietnamese fisheries, creating favourable conditions for Việt Nam's seafood exports to the EU.

Thưởng suggested that Austria prioritise Việt Nam in receiving Official Development Assistance (ODA) and implement more favourable lending policies, especially for projects in the fields of healthcare, environment, vocational training, firefighting, and search and rescue.

The Austrian President welcomed the ongoing discussions about Austria's concessional loans, which would facilitate sustainable development cooperation projects between the two countries.

He highly appreciated the integration capabilities of the Vietnamese community in Austria's socio-economic life and agreed with the Vietnamese leader's proposal to continue providing favourable conditions and support for the Vietnamese community in Austria.

In the exchange of views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, President Thưởng commended Austria's interest in enhancing relations with Southeast Asia. He noted that Việt Nam stands ready to act as a bridge to strengthen Austria's ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) while requesting Austria's assistance in enhancing Việt Nam's relations with the EU.

Both leaders agreed to continue close coordination at regional and international forums, particularly within the United Nations and the ASEAN-EU cooperation framework, to contribute to peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

Regarding the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea), both leaders reaffirmed the importance of peace, stability, safety, security, and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, supporting international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Thưởng took this occasion to invite Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and his spouse to visit Việt Nam, an invitation they gladly accepted.

After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the ministries of foreign affairs of Việt Nam and Austria. – VNS