President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc speaks to his Romanian counterpart Klaus Iohannis over the phone on Wednesday. VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Wednesday said he is delighted at the economic cooperation between Việt Nam and Romania during a conversation with the European country’s President Klaus Iohannis.

Speaking with his Romanian counterpart over the phone, the Vietnamese President expressed his appreciation for Romania’s support and facilitation of the signing of two important trade agreements – the European Union-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) – in June 2019 during Romania’s EU presidency.

He said the agreements have had positive impacts on economic cooperation between the two countries, with two-way trade turnover increasing by 10 per cent in 2020 despite COVID-19, reaching nearly US$300 million.

Phúc also thanked the Romanian President for his warm welcome of the high-level Vietnamese delegation’s official visit to Romania in April 2019 when he was Prime Minister of Việt Nam.

President Klaus Iohannis congratulated Phúc on being elected as the President of Việt Nam, saying Romania always values the 70-year diplomatic relation between the two countries and attaches great importance to the positive development of their bilateral collaboration over the years.

He stressed that Việt Nam is an important partner of the European country in the Asia-Pacific region.

Praising Việt Nam’s efforts and achievements in fighting COVID-19, President Iohannis said his government will give Việt Nam 100,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca, and will consider giving more in the future.

The two leaders also discuss collaboration in the fields of economics, commerce, education and training, and labour exchange.

They invited each other to visit their respective countries when it’s possible to do so in the future.

President Phúc is set to discuss bilateral cooperation and regional, international affairs with Indonesian President Joko Widodo over the phone on Thursday afternoon. — VNS