State President Võ Văn Thưởng and spouse in Rome on July 25 evening (Việt Nam time). — VNA/VNS Photo

ROME — State President Võ Văn Thưởng and his spouse arrived in Rome on July 25 evening (Việt Nam time) for a State visit to Italy and a visit to the Vatican, made at invitations of President of Italy Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis.

Thưởng's Italy visit takes place in the context that the two countries are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties and the 10th anniversary of their Strategic Partnership.

During his trip, President Thưởng is scheduled to hold talks with his counterpart and meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, and President of the Chamber of Deputies Lorenzo Fontana, among others.

He will attend a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties and meet representatives of the Vietnamese community in the European country.

During his visit to the Vatican, the leader will meet Pope Francis and the Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Prior to Italy, the Vietnamese leader has concluded his successful trip to Austria, where he held talks with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, during which the two sides exchanged and agreed on orientations and measures to further deepen the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Việt Nam and Austria.

Building on the achievements in the relations between the two countries over the past 50 years, the two sides will focus on promoting cooperation in economy, trade and investment, culture and art; effectively implementing the Việt Nam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and working towards the signing of the Việt Nam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and the early removal the IUU yellow card for Vietnamese seafood.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two foreign ministries.

President Thưởng also had meetings with high-ranking Austrian leaders and localities. He met with the President of the Federal Council of Austria Claudia Arpa, the Mayor of Vienna Michael Ludwig and met with Governor of Burgenland Hans Peter Doskozil.

Regarding multilateral activities, the President visited the headquarters of the United Nations (UN) agency in Austria and met with the Acting Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Najat Mokhtar. — VNS