HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam considers Poland a priority partner as it pursues friendly ties with central eastern Europe, President Trần Đại Quang told his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Hà Nội yesterday. 

In talks held following a grand welcome ceremony, Dud also affirmed that Poland sought to nurture mutually beneficial ties with Việt Nam in diverse areas. 

Both sides agreed to facilitate the exchange of all-level visits of the Party, Government, National Assembly, businesses and local channels.

They spoke highly of the close and effective co-ordination the two nations have forged on the international arena. The Vietnamese President congratulated Poland on being elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2018-2019 tenure.

Duda expressed his support for Việt Nam’s bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure and the early signing and ratification of the European Union-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The two leaders highly appreciated the considerable progress made in bilateral ties in economy, trade and investment for many years.

Poland is now Việt Nam’s largest trade partner in Central Eastern Europe while Việt Nam is Poland’s seventh largest trade partner outside the EU. Two-way trade hit a record US$790 million last year, and reached $730 million in the nine months this year, up 25 per cent annually. 

Poland’s total investment in Việt Nam doubled to $189 million between 2014 and 2017. 

In the near future, Poland plans to disburse an official development assistance package worth 250 million euros to Việt Nam in line with a framework agreement on financial co-operation signed during the visit. 

The leaders agreed that the two countries would actively realise the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on economic co-operation, facilitating at first the inauguration of a representative office of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in HCM City.

This would encourage exploration of businesses opportunities in areas of Poland’s strength and Việt Nam’s demand, including mining, food processing, pharmaceuticals and environmental protection, they said. 

They also underscored the importance of boosting national defence-security ties and pledged to share experiences on overcoming the consequences of unexploded ordnances and participating in UN peacekeeping missions.

The two leaders welcomed the signing of a tertiary education co-operation agreement with an increase in scholarships to students and graduates of either country to 20 per year; as well as a letter of intent on opening Polish language training courses signed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Hà Nội National University.

They promised to restore the Việt Nam-Poland Joint Committee on Scientific and Technological Co-operation and convene its meeting next year. 

The two presidents also welcomed the signing of an MoU on environment protection co-operation and  agreed to reinforce joint work waste treatment and green technology applications. 

Priority market list

President Quang hailed Poland for adding Việt Nam to its list of 14 priority agriculture export markets and the signing of the MoU on agriculture collaboration during the visit. 

He thanked the Polish State and government for providing all possible support for Vietnamese nationals living in the country. 

A joint statement on the outcomes of the visit was issued later.

The two presidents also chaired a joint press conference following their talks in Hà Nội yesterday, saying they’d agreed to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels, particularly high-level ones. 

They agreed to consult each other regularly on regional and international matters of shared concern. They would also co-ordinate and support each other at regional and international forums, particularly at the UN and within the co-operation frameworks of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN-EU and the Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM). 

On regional and international issues of shared concern, they stressed the importance of maintaining security and peace, and promoting co-operation and development the world over. 

They held that all disputes should be addressed by peaceful measures with full respect for legal and diplomatic processes, in line with international law. 

President Duda thanked Việt Nam for supporting Poland’s non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for 2018-19.

He also expressed his hope that documents signed during his visit would create a foundation to step up collaboration in many fields.

The opening of the representative office of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in HCM City, slated for November 30, 2017, demonstrated Poland’s attention to develop economic and trade ties with Việt Nam, he said. 

Two-way trade value had reached $2 billion and would rise many times in the coming years on the basis of outcomes from his ongoing Việt Nam visit as well as the upcoming visit to Poland by President Quang, he added. 

At the end of their talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of a number of documents, including one on financial co-operation between the Vietnamese and Polish Governments, another between the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and Poland’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and a letter of intent by the Hà Nội University and Poland’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education on establishing Polish language courses. 

Several memoranda of understanding between Vietnamese and Polish ministries as well as one between the Vietnam News Agency and the Polish Press Agency were also signed yesterday. 

A pharmaceutical investment contract was signed by Viet Nam’s Đạt Vi Phú Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. with ADMED Company of Poland.

The two sides later issued a joint statement.— VNS