Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria and Slovenia Nguyễn Trung Kiên (left) and Vietnamese community at the gathering to celeberate the traditional New Year holiday in 2024. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam and Slovenia have a lot of potential to strengthen cooperation for mutual development, and for peace, security and stability in the two countries as well as in the region and the world at large, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria and Slovenia Nguyễn Trung Kiên.

At an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Việt Nam-Slovenia diplomatic relations (June 7, 1994-2024), the ambassador emphasised that in fact, the two countries’ relations started more than 30 years ago when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia.

Việt Nam had a good relationship with Yugoslavia, which supported its cause of national liberation and unification, he said.

Three years after Slovenia gained independence in 1991, it established diplomatic relations with Việt Nam. Since then, the bilateral ties have kept growing with exchanges of delegations, including high-ranking ones, and the regular meetings of the Việt Nam - Slovenia Intergovernmental Committee on Economic Cooperation.

The third meeting of the committee was held in October 2023 in Ljubljana under the co-chair of Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyễn Hồng Diên and Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon. Previously, the Slovenia official paid an official visit to Việt Nam from May 22-23, 2023 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn. During the visit, the two sides outlined directions for promoting bilateral relations.

Regarding trade ties, the ambassador said that two-way trade between Việt Nam and Slovenia has grown steadily in recent years, reaching US$573 million in 2023. In the first four months of 2024, the figure hit $161 million, with Việt Nam's exports worth $127.5 million, equivalent to the level in the same period last year and its imports $33.5 million , down 0.6 per cent. Slovenia has three projects with a total registered capital of $2.27 million in Việt Nam, ranking 92nd out of 144 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian nation.

The cooperation and exchanges between VIệt Nam and Slovenia in many other fields have been also developing, the ambassador said. Slovenia has appointed an Honorary Consul and will soon open a consulate in HCM City to strengthen relations with Việt Nam.

According to the ambassador, with a favourable geographical location, Slovenia is an important gateway for Việt Nam to bring its goods to Europe; while Việt Nam, with a large population and a rapidly growing economy in the dynamic Southeast Asian region, Việt Nam is a promising market for Slovenia's innovation products. — VNS