Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn (right) held talks with visiting Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó in Hà Nội on March 19. — VNA/VNS Photo An Đăng

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó in Hà Nội on Wednesday, as part of the latter's two-day official visit to Việt Nam.

Deputy PM Sơn said the visit is considered an important activity to promote the Comprehensive Partnership between Việt Nam and Hungary, especially in the context of the two countries celebrating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations (1950-2025).

He affirmed that Việt Nam always values and wishes to strengthen multifaceted cooperation with Hungary, which has been Việt Nam's first comprehensive partner in the Central and Eastern European region.

The Vietnamese top diplomat expressed gratitude and hoped that the Hungarian government would continue to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Hungary to have stable life and integrate into the local society, contributing positively to Hungary's socio-economic development and bilateral relations.

Minister Szijjártó expressed his impression of Việt Nam's socio-economic development achievements and international integration in recent times. He highly appreciated Việt Nam's increasingly important role and position in the region and the world, affirming that Hungary always values and wishes to strengthen relations with Việt Nam, Hungary's leading partner in Southeast Asia.

Exchanging comprehensive views on each country's socio-economic situation and bilateral cooperation, both sides were pleased to note that over the past 75 years, the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Việt Nam and Hungary have been continuously promoted, developing positively across many fields, especially political-diplomatic, trade, investment, development cooperation, culture, education and healthcare.

Both sides appreciated the fact that Hungary is currently one of Việt Nam's largest trading partners in Central and Eastern Europe, and Việt Nam is one of Hungary's most potential markets in Asia. Despite the impact of global economic difficulties, trade turnover between the two countries has maintained positive growth, reaching approximately US$1 billion every year in recent times.

Việt Nam and Hungary concurred that there is still ample potential to further enhance bilateral cooperation and agreed on measures to promote cooperation in many promising areas in the coming period, including increasing high-level delegation exchanges, especially in 2025, continuing close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, including the United Nations and ASEAN-EU.

A view of the talks between Vietnamese, Hungarian top diplomats. — VNA/VNS Photo An Đăng

The two sides agreed to coordinate closely to maximise opportunities from the Việt Nam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), facilitate more agricultural and aquatic products from both countries to be present in each other's markets.

The two countries' authorities will also encourage Hungarian enterprises to increase investment in areas where Việt Nam has needs and Hungary has strengths, such as pharmaceuticals, animal husbandry, food processing and water management.

The two sides also agreed to promote the early ratification of the Việt Nam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

Việt Nam and Hungary pledged to further boost cooperation in education, nuclear power human resource training, agriculture, environment, defence, security, culture, tourism, healthcare, information technology and communications, climate change response. Also in terms of an early negotiation and signing of a citizen repatriation agreement to create a legal basis for further strengthening cooperation in the labour field and early organisation of the 10th session of the Việt Nam-Hungary Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation in Hà Nội.

Exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the situation in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) and Ukraine, Vietnamese and Hungarian top diplomats agreed that disputes must be resolved by peaceful means, based on respect for the United Nations Charter and international law.

The same day, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính also hosted a reception for the visiting Hungarian official, where he extended the invitation for Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor to make an official visit soon.

Discussing human resources cooperation, Péter Szijjártó told PM Chính that with 50 years of experience in operating nuclear power plants using Russian technology, Hungary is ready to cooperate and help train a thousand experts in nuclear power plant operations in Việt Nam and considers this a strategic area of ​​cooperation between the two countries. — VNS