Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính meets with President of the Dominican Republic’s Senate Ricardo de los Santos Polanco in Santo Domingo on Wednesday afternoon (local time). VNA/VNS Photos Dương Giang

SANTO DOMINGO – Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính had separate meetings with President of the Dominican Republic’s Senate Ricardo de los Santos Polanco and President of the Chamber of Deputies Alfredo Pacheco in Santo Domingo on Wednesday afternoon (local time), as part of the Vietnamese leader's official visit to the Caribbean country.

The host leaders hailed the visit's historical significance as PM Chính is the first high-ranking Vietnamese leader to visit the Dominican Republic. It comes at a time when the wo countries have seen positive strides in their relationship towards the 20th anniversary of their diplomatic ties on July 7, 2025.

Việt Nam treasures its traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with the Dominican Republic as part of its broader foreign policy towards the Latin America-Caribbean region, and specifically with the Dominican Republic’s Congress, Chính said.

PM Chính shared the positive outcomes of his earlier talks with President Luis Abinader Corona, during which the two sides issued a joint declaration and agreed to increase the exchange of delegations and improve the legal framework for bilateral collaboration across various sectors.

The Vietnamese leader also revealed his proposal for the two countries to promptly negotiate agreements on free trade, investment protection, cultural and education-training cooperation, and visa exemptions for ordinary passport holders.

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính meets with President of the Chamber of Deputies Alfredo Pacheco in Santo Domingo on Wednesday afternoon (local time).

Appreciating the results achieved at the talks between PM Phạm Minh Chính and President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader Corona, the leaders of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies affirmed their support for the directions and measures proposed by both governments to bring the friendship and cooperation between the two countries to a new development stage to effectively and practically serve the development process in each country.

They were also committed to strongly supporting the early negotiations on agreements on free trade, investment protection, cultural and education-training cooperation, and visa exemptions for ordinary passport holders, believing that achieving these agreements soon will bring tangible benefits to businesses and citizens of both countries, and significantly elevate the bilateral relations to a new height.

On this occasion, PM Chính conveyed the thanks of the Vietnamese National Assembly to the Senate of the Dominican Republic for recently arranging a warm welcome for the delegation from the Vietnamese NA's Committee for Foreign Affairs, led by its Chairman Vũ Hải Hà, during their working visit to the Dominican Republic in July this year.

He welcomed and appreciated the establishment of a friendship parliamentarians group with Việt Nam in the Dominican Senate and announced that the Vietnamese NA had established a friendship parliamentarians group with the Dominican Republic on November 15, 2024. This will be an important channel for cooperation between the two legislatures in particular, and the two countries in general, PM Chính stressed.

On behalf of NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn, PM Chính extended the regards and invitations to the leaders of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic to visit Việt Nam. The top legislators of the Dominican Republic accepted the invitations with pleasures. – VNS