BUCHAREST — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has expressed his desire for stronger co-operation between Việt Nam and Romania in oil and gas, agriculture and food processing. 

These were areas of Việt Nam’s demand and Romania’s strength, the visiting PM told Romanian President Klaus Iohannis during their meeting on Monday in Bucharest.

He suggested the two countries collaborate in other fields like labour, education-training, culture-tourism, agriculture, national defence-security and science-technology. 

Việt Nam treasured the Romanian people’s valuable support towards the country over the past nearly 70 years, the leader said.  

He called for more support from Romania, in its capacity as EU president in the first six months of 2019, for the signing and ratification of the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). 

PM Phúc conveyed the invitation of Party General Secretary, President Nguyễn Phú Trọng to President Iohannis to visit Việt Nam on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties in 2020. The Romanian President accepted the invitation.

Iohannis said Romania attached importance to the traditional friendship with Việt Nam and regarded PM Phúc’s visit as momentum to promote bilateral relations. 

Việt Nam and Romania had substantial potential to enhance their ties, he said, noting nearly 4,000 Vietnamese have studied in Romania and 500 Vietnamese are living and working in the country. 
The President lauded the socio-economic achievements Việt Nam has recorded over the years as well as its position in the region and the world.

Romania backed the intensification of Việt Nam-EU relations, and would push the signing of the EVFTA and the EVIPA in order to materialise co-operation projects that would benefit Việt Nam, the EU and Romania, he said. 

Host and guest agreed to urge ministries, agencies, localities and partners of the two countries to step up their connectivity to develop the bilateral relationship, bringing significant outcomes to celebrate the 70th anniversary of bilateral ties. 

Việt Nam and Romania would continue close co-ordination at multilateral forums like the United Nations and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), they vowed. 

The same day, PM Phúc met with President of the Romanian Senate Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, during which he said Việt Nam treasured relations with Romania and highly valued the Romanian Senate’s contributions to bilateral ties. 

He also applauded the role played by friendship parliamentarians’ groups of the two countries, and delegation exchanges between their parliaments. 

The PM thanked Romania, including the Senate, for supporting the EVFTA and the EVIPA during the country’s EU rotating presidency. He expressed his hope for further support from Romania in the future. 

PM Phúc conveyed the invitation of National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân to Senate President Călin Popescu Tăriceanu to visit Việt Nam. 

In reply, the Senate President said PM Phúc’s visit demonstrated an important development of bilateral ties. 

The Romanian Senate recognised the importance of the Việt Nam-Romania friendship and hoped the bilateral relations would grow stronger. 

Romania had supported the EVFTA and the EVIPA, and was accelerating legal reviews so the agreements would be reached soon, he said. 

He suggested Việt Nam and Romania step up collaboration in agriculture, labour and trade, gearing towards two-way trade of US$1 billion.

Romania wanted to welcome more Vietnamese students and workers to the country, he said.  VNS