Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính. VNA photo

NEW YORK – Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính left New York early on September 23 (local time), concluding his trip to attend the high-level week of the 78th United Nations General Assembly and bilateral activities in the US, and setting off for a four-day official visit to Brazil.

PM Chính’s official visit to Brazil, made at the invitation of President Lula da Silva, aims to consolidate political trust, deepen multifaceted cooperation, and develop the bilateral relations practically and effectively, especially in the fields of politics, diplomacy, economy, trade, and investment, culture, education and tourism.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Brazil Pham Thi Kim Hoa told the Vietnam News Agency that PM Chính is the first leader of the Vietnamese Party and Government to pay an official visit to Brazil since the trip by then Party General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh in 2007. Therefore," it bears great significance to the promotion of the bilateral partnership in the future," she said, holding that it would mark the opening of a new period of cooperation between Việt Nam and Brazil.

It would also take place on the threshold of the 35th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations in 2024. Therefore, its outcomes would add meaning to this milestone, guiding the elevation of bilateral relations to a new height in the future.

Highlighting economic cooperation potential between the two countries, Hoa noted that two-way trade reached US$ 6.78 billion in 2022.

Brazil is the biggest trading partner of Việt Nam in Latin America and the second largest in America, just behind the US.

The ambassador hoped that PM Chính’s visit would help facilitate the trading of more products between the two countries, especially farm produce towards more balanced manner.

Particularly, the two sides are expected to propose effective policies and measures to expand their product exports to balance the bilateral trade, thus benefiting both Việt Nam and Brazil, especially in the context that the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) is considering the signing of a free trade agreement with Việt Nam. VNA/VNS