Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh receives Deputy FM Castaneda in Hà Nội yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo An Đăng

HÀ NỘI – The first deputy foreign minister-level political consultation between Việt Nam and El Salvador took place in Hà Nội yesterday, aiming to seek measures to foster the partnership between the two countries and their foreign ministries.

Co-chairing the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Hà Kim Ngọc and his El Salvador counterpart Carlos Castaneda agreed to continue maintaining and enhancing the effectiveness of the consultation between the two ministries.

The two sides will support Vietnamese and El Salvador enterprises accessing each other’s market and set up direct partnerships, contributing to raising two-way trade.

They agreed on the huge co-operation potential between the two countries, especially in education, transportation, oil and gas, construction materials, agro-fishery production and processing.

Việt Nam and El Salvador will continue implementing the signed agreements and speeding up negotiations for other deals in transportation, technology, education, science and culture to continue completing the legal framework for bilateral collaboration.

The two sides also shared views on many international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Later the same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh hosted a reception for Deputy FM Castaneda.

Minh expressed his pleasure with the fruitful outcomes of the first political consultation between the foreign ministries of the two countries, as well as the growing friendship between Việt Nam and El Salvador, particularly between the Communist Party of Việt Nam and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front.

Lauding El Salvador’s opening of the Consulate Office in HCM City, the Deputy PM said he hopes that the two countries will continue working closely with and support each other at international organisations and multilateral forums, especially the United Nations and the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC).

On the occasion, Minh conveyed the Vietnamese leaders’ invitations to El Salvador President Sanchez Ceren and Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez Bonilla to visit Việt Nam.

For his part, Castaneda spoke highly of Việt Nam’s comprehensive achievements in national renewal over the past three decades, noting that his ministry wishes to contribute more to boosting all-round ties with the Southeast Asian country.

Within the framework of the visit yesterday and today, El Salvador’s Deputy FM Castaneda also had meetings with Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Vương Duy Biên, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Đỗ Thắng Hải, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Lê Quốc Doanh and Vice President of the Việt Nam Union of Friendship Organisations Đôn Tuấn Phong.

He is scheduled to visit HCM City today, where he will hold a seminar with local firms and launch the El Salvador Honorary Consulate Office in the city. — VNS