PM Phạm Minh Chính (R) and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez in Hà Nội in April. VNA/VNS Photo

MADRID — Deputy Prime Minister Hồ Đức Phớc’s upcoming attendance at the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) and working trip to Spain from June 30 – July 3 will mark a concrete step toward a more effective and pragmatic Việt Nam-Spain partnership, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Spain Đoàn Thanh Song.

The visit, to be made at the invitation of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, will focus on business connectivity, economic and investment promotion, seaport building and management, tourism, and finance, Song noted.

He stressed that Deputy PM Phớc’s attendance at FfD4, a leading UN platform on development finance, reflects an important concretisation of Việt Nam’s policy of elevating its multilateral diplomacy, particularly by engaging with international financial institutions and shaping a new global financial framework. Việt Nam’s presence signals its dedication to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its efforts to pool resources like Official Development Assistance (ODA) and capital of the private sector.

The conference, expected to draw over 60 heads of state, high-ranking delegations from 200 countries and international organisations, and around 10,000 delegates, will focus on reforming global financial systems, enhancing debt sustainability, and scaling up investment to bridge development finance gaps.

Deputy PM Phớc is set to deliver key remarks at plenary sessions and join a roundtable on revitalising international development cooperation, where he will articulate Việt Nam’s vision as an active, responsible, and reform-oriented nation committed to multilateralism and sustainable development.

The trip follows PM Sánchez’s visit to Việt Nam in April, the first by a Spanish Government leader since diplomatic ties were established in 1977. Phớc’s mission aims to build on the joint statement issued during that visit, advancing cooperation in areas such as economy, finance, infrastructure, green and renewable energy, rail transport, logistics, urban planning, digital transformation, maritime economy, agri-food processing, and tourism. Concrete and practical contents reached during the trip are expected to pave the way for elevating bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Song stated.

A notable highlight of the trip will be Phớc’s meeting with the President of Catalonia, the second such engagement since then Vietnamese President Nguyễn Minh Triết’s visit in 2009. The engagement with Catalonia, Spain’s second-largest economy in the northeast, is hoped to boost bilateral relations at both national and local levels.

Song described the Việt Nam-Spain relationship as entering a “new, deeper, and more substantive chapter” since Sánchez’s visit.

Economic, trade, and investment cooperation remains the bedrock of the partnership, with both nations expanding into high-potential sectors like innovation, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor, digital transformation, renewable energy, transport infrastructure, railways, urban transit, seaports, and aviation, which are Spain's strengths meeting Việt Nam’s needs. Cultural exchanges and tourism are also flourishing, driven by growing Spanish arrivals in Việt Nam.

The two countries are preparing to hold the first session of their Joint Economic, Trade and Investment Committee in 2025 to capitalise on their complementary economies. Việt Nam also plans to dispatch a technical working group to Spain to study transport infrastructure and explore investment opportunities. — VNS