Within the framework of the official visit to Bulgaria, in the capital Sofia, National Assembly Chairman, Professor, Dr. Vuong Dinh Hue visited and delivered an important speech to diplomats, scholars, professors, lecturers, students, and postgraduates at the Sofia University of International and National Economics - a famous high-level economic school with a century-long history, about the current world and regional situation and the good traditional friendship between Vietnam and Bulgaria.
Here is the text of the speech:
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| National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue speaks about Vietnam-Bulgaria bilateral relations and cooperation policies. (Source: VNA) |
1. I and the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly are very happy and moved to visit the brotherly country of Bulgaria and sincerely thank the Bulgarian National Assembly and personally Chairman Rosen Zhelyakov for welcoming us like family members with the most solemn ceremonies.
Today, at the Sofia University of National and International Economics, a renowned higher economic school with a century-long history, I am pleased to discuss openly, frankly and sincerely the current world and regional situation and the good traditional friendship between our two countries.
I have spent 23 years teaching at a major university in finance and economics in Vietnam. Therefore, visiting the school gave me great inspiration, recalling the exciting time when I was standing on the podium.
During this visit to Bulgaria, I and the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly received deep affection and warm welcome from Bulgarian friends, leaving us with many deep impressions of the beautiful country of Bulgaria and the very kind and hospitable Bulgarian people.
As close friends of the Bulgarian people, Vietnam always pays attention to, follows and congratulates the achievements that the Bulgarian people have made in socio-economic development, European integration, bringing prosperity and stability to the country, and enhancing Bulgaria's international position. From the bottom of our hearts, we congratulate you on these great successes.
Many Vietnamese people know Bulgaria as the land of noble roses with a long-standing culture and a heroic history with famous national heroes such as Vasil Levski and Hristo Botev; with humorous fables of the Gabrovo region; with talented scientists and artists such as John Atanasov and Lili Ivanova.
The warm friendship and cultural imprint of Bulgaria are also deeply imprinted in the minds of many Vietnamese people through the poetry collection “Surrounded by Love” by the eminent poet and former Vice President of Bulgaria, Ms. Blaga Dimitrova, written about the resistance war against colonialism and the regaining of national independence of the Vietnamese people.
With historical similarities, Vietnam and Bulgaria have been bound by a loyal and steadfast friendship that has been continuously nurtured and developed by the leaders and people of the two countries over the past 7 decades, since Bulgaria was one of the first countries in the world to recognize Vietnam's independence and establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
President Ho Chi Minh’s friendly visit to Bulgaria in August 1957 laid the foundation and was an important milestone in the history of relations between our two countries. Through many historical events and ups and downs, the Vietnamese people always remember and are deeply grateful for the valuable support and assistance that the Bulgarian people have given to Vietnam.
The Vietnamese people still vividly remember the images of thousands of Bulgarian students taking to the streets to protest against the war; workers in many Bulgarian factories and plants donated 1-2 days of salary to support and help the Vietnamese people; a series of Bulgarian experts and engineers came to Vietnam to help us build the Viet-Bul Hospital in Thai Binh province, the Viet-Bul Kindergarten in the capital Hanoi...
We are also very proud to have more than 3,600 scientists, experts and more than 30,000 skilled workers who have been trained by Bulgarian friends in many fields such as construction, architecture, information technology, biochemistry, agriculture, mechanical engineering and medicine - pharmacy..., including excellent alumni who have grown up from university lecture halls across Bulgaria such as former National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung (a former student of the Sofia University of International and National Economics) or former Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan.
Personally, I have been told by many generations of Vietnamese leaders and friends about the beautiful country of Bulgaria with deep feelings, unforgettable memories of the passionate and enthusiastic youth of living, studying and training in your country. I have a dream of one day setting foot in the "land of roses" to feel and experience the rich culture and history of the Bulgarian people. And today, my dream has come true. I am honored to officially visit the beautiful country of Bulgaria and speak here to you.
Today's forum is an opportunity for us, as friends and long-time close brothers, to openly and sincerely exchange views on the current world and regional situation and the good traditional friendship between our two countries.
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| National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue speaks. (Source: VNA) |
2. Entering the third decade of the 21st century, although peace, cooperation and development are still the major trends, the world is facing many obstacles and difficulties; strategic competition between major countries, local conflicts, wars continue to take place in many forms, more complex and fierce...; combined with urgent global issues such as natural disasters, climate change, epidemics, transnational crimes, social inequality... are posing unprecedented challenges to each country and all of humanity.
The world economy is on the path to recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, but in the coming time, it still faces many risks, even the risk of entering recession due to the impact of broken supply chains, energy and food crises, public debt and especially high inflation in many countries.
More than ever, we want countries to unite, cooperate and be united, to join hands to respond to global challenges for a better world. We call on all parties to quickly end wars and conflicts, sit at the negotiating table, respect each other's legitimate interests, and find peaceful solutions to disputes and disagreements, on the basis of respect for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, the United Nations Charter and international law.
At the same time, we also need strong commitments and practical actions to promote multilateralism and international law-based order. We need to make extraordinary efforts and uphold our responsibility to the international community to build peace and cooperation, considering it the mainstream and main stream of our time.
The world has never entered a period of rapid, profound and complex change like today, but peace, cooperation and development are still the main currents. A world without war and hunger and poverty is the burning desire and dream of all peoples and countries in the world. It is the common denominator for all bilateral and multilateral cooperation at both regional and global levels.
The challenge is huge, but it is also the driving force for all countries and regions to innovate strongly and develop. In the flow of new technological advances, especially the strong development of artificial intelligence (AI), ... it seems that all countries, whether developed or developing, whether large or small, are having the same starting point and in my personal opinion, the future is no longer simply an extension of the past.
All countries, especially latecomers like Vietnam or countries without large populations like Bulgaria, still have opportunities. In this process, Vietnam and Bulgaria in particular, and Southeast Asian and European countries in general, have very important and great roles and contributions.
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| National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue delivers a policy speech on the bilateral relations and cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria. (Source: VNA) |
3. In that context, Vietnam continues to adhere to the Renovation policy updated through the Congresses of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Up to now, after 37 years of implementing the comprehensive and synchronous Renovation initiated and led by the Communist Party of Vietnam, from one of the poorest countries in the world with about 95% of the population in poverty and heavily devastated by war, Vietnam has achieved great and historic achievements, becoming a developing country, promoting industrialization, modernization and strong and deep international integration.
The economy has continuously grown at an average of 6-7% per year for decades. In 2022, GDP growth will reach 8.02%; inflation will be controlled at 3%; GDP will reach 409 billion USD - ranked in the Top 38 in the world, 10 times higher than in 2000. Vietnam has trade relations with 220 countries and economies with a total turnover of 732.5 billion USD in 2022 - ranked in the Top 20 in the world and has had a trade surplus for many consecutive years.
From a country with insufficient food, in 2022 Vietnam exported 6.5 million tons of rice, with a total export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products of 55 billion USD. Vietnam is a successful destination in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), with an accumulated total of more than 36,600 FDI projects by February 2023 with a total capital of more than 442 billion USD from investors from 142 countries and partners.
With the policy of "leaving no one behind", the ultimate goal of development is the quality of life of the people, it can be said that Vietnam has achieved a miracle in poverty reduction, is a bright spot in implementing the Millennium Development Goals and is striving to implement the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals SDGs-2030. Vietnam's poverty rate has decreased from 14.2% in 2010 to 4.8% in 2020, with 10 million people having escaped poverty, and is considered by the international community as a model country in effective poverty reduction in the world.
Regarding foreign affairs, Vietnam consistently implements a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, diversification, multilateralization, proactively and actively integrating into the international community in a comprehensive, profound and effective manner, being a friend, a reliable partner and an active, responsible member of the international community.
To date, Vietnam has diplomatic relations with 193 countries, including 30 strategic partners and comprehensive partners. Most recently, on September 10, 2023, during President Joe Biden's state visit at the invitation of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam and the United States established a comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development. The Communist Party of Vietnam attaches great importance to relations with political parties around the world and currently has relations with 247 parties in 111 countries, including 63 ruling parties, 28 parties participating in the ruling coalition and participating in politics. We synchronously deploy all three pillars: party diplomacy, state diplomacy - parliamentary diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy.
The Vietnamese National Assembly has relations with more than 140 parliaments around the world. Recently, from September 14-17, 2023, Vietnam successfully organized the 9th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and adopted the first Conference Declaration after 9 Conferences with the theme "The role of youth in implementing sustainable development goals through digital transformation and innovation".
We sincerely thank the parliaments of IPU member countries, including Bulgaria, for their enthusiastic support of this important event. I would also like to take this opportunity to inform and respectfully thank the Bulgarian National Assembly for its active support of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and its recent ratification of the Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) during my official visit to Bulgaria.
In the context of war and conflicts taking place in many places, strategic competition between major countries is increasingly fierce and complicated, Vietnam supports resolving all disputes and conflicts by peaceful means, based on international law.
Vietnam proactively participates in and promotes its role in regional and United Nations multilateral mechanisms, especially ASEAN, AIPA, the United Nations, APEC, ASEM, the Non-Aligned Movement, etc., actively and responsibly contributes with partners, contributing to building a peaceful and stable international order, ensuring the legitimate interests of all peoples, on the basis of respect for international law and the United Nations Charter.
4. In Vietnam's foreign policy, the Central Eastern European region plays a very important role, being the gateway and bridge for Vietnam to strengthen cooperation with the European Union (EU). We prioritize promoting traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with countries in the region, of which Bulgaria is one of the top priority partners.
Vietnam and Bulgaria have always stood side by side throughout history and today we are very pleased to witness the traditional friendship with a history of more than 70 years that has been developing well in many fields. High-level visits have been maintained and are effective; many bilateral cooperation mechanisms have been established; trade turnover has increased steadily every year and reached more than 200 million USD in 2022; traditional cooperation areas such as education - training, cultural exchange, labor cooperation continue to develop positively...
In particular, the traditional bond between the two nations has become increasingly strong over time with meaningful cooperative activities such as Slavonic Writing Day, Rose Festival in Vietnam..., with many works about the bond between the two countries such as "Ho Chi Minh in the land of roses", "Vietnam - Country - People", "Vietnam - Descendants of the Dragon and Fairy".
In particular, Bulgarian journalist Kadrinka Kadrinova has written many impressive articles about Vietnam, including two works that have received prestigious awards from the Vietnamese State for foreign works. (*)
The Vietnamese community in Bulgaria, with more than 1,000 people, has deeply integrated into the local community and has always received support and favorable conditions from the Bulgarian State and Government, contributing to being an effective bridge, further enhancing understanding and solidarity between our two peoples.
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| Delegates attending the program. (Source: VNA) |
5. With a history of friendship and sincere and effective cooperation, aiming to elevate the relationship to a new level, I propose some major directions of bilateral cooperation as follows:
Firstly , deepening political and diplomatic relations. To promote political trust between the two countries, I propose: promoting contacts and exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially high-level, through all channels of the Party, State, Government, National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges; enhancing the effectiveness of cooperation and mutual support between the two countries' National Assemblies in the context of Vietnam promoting the building of a rule-of-law state, perfecting the legal system, and enhancing the role of the National Assembly and elected bodies. In addition to bilateral cooperation, the legislative bodies of the two countries need to promote cooperation, exchange views, and closely coordinate at inter-parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP), etc.
In addition, I suggest that relevant ministries and sectors of both sides continue to effectively implement existing cooperation mechanisms, while studying and promoting specialized cooperation in new areas of mutual interest and strength. Vietnam hopes that Bulgaria, as a traditional friend and country, will be a bridge to promote Vietnam's relations with the EU. Vietnam is ready to serve as a gateway for Bulgaria to further strengthen cooperation with ASEAN.
Second , expanding economic-investment-trade cooperation to become an important pillar in bilateral relations in the coming time. In that spirit, the two sides need to actively implement agreements and measures to promote cooperation within the framework of the Vietnam-Bulgaria Intergovernmental Committee on Economic Cooperation to remove obstacles and create breakthroughs in investment and trade, thereby contributing to sustainable economic recovery and development.
I believe that, with our position, role and strategic geopolitical position in each region, our two countries can fully take advantage of this to bring competitive goods and products to the regional market. In addition, with the new generation agreements that the two countries are members of such as EVFTA, EVIPA... businesses of the two countries can explore cooperation in fields and industries with strengths as well as take advantage of preferential policies to create products with high value and competitiveness.
At the same time, promote cooperation between localities with unique characteristics and similarities in economy and society towards the goal of establishing partnerships and twinning in areas where both sides have strengths to increase investment attraction, trade and tourism development.
Third, connecting cooperation in the field of digital transformation and innovation. We need to seize the great opportunities that digital transformation, green economy, innovation trends are bringing. Accordingly, we must accelerate new economic cooperation and connectivity initiatives at the regional and global levels. At the same time, we must continue to make efforts to promote the building of a new global form that is fairer and more sustainable for all countries and economies.
The challenge is huge, but it is also the driving force for all countries to innovate strongly and develop. Bulgaria is a country in the region with competitive advantages in areas such as cloud computing, big data, automation, blockchain, etc. Vietnam is also on the path of strong digital transformation, through the National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a vision to 2030. Vietnam has also built a National Innovation Center and will be inaugurated at the end of October 2023.
This is expected to be the largest Center for technology, science, innovation, and startups in the region, gathering a large number of experts, intellectuals, scientists, and leading businesses in the world to promote the innovation ecosystem, and is also a place where exhibitions, forums, and specialized scientific seminars on a national and regional scale are regularly held. I hope that Vietnam and Bulgaria will have specific cooperation in this field with many breakthroughs and innovations.
Fourth, promote effective cooperation in traditional fields. In education and training, the two sides will strengthen cooperation in training and scientific research between universities and research centers of the two countries in areas of strength of Bulgaria and Vietnam such as: health, biotechnology, agriculture, environment and natural resource management. In culture, the two sides will continue to coordinate in organizing cultural and artistic activities such as Cultural Days, painting exhibitions, film weeks, art performances, etc., creating conditions for the public of the two countries to better understand the cultures of the two countries.
Regarding labor cooperation, the two sides promoted the effective implementation of the Labor Cooperation Agreement signed in 2018 with the coordination of the two governments. Recently, a number of contracts have been signed to send workers to Bulgaria to work, but the number is still very modest.
It is known that Bulgaria has a need to receive foreign workers with skills in agriculture, industry and construction. Vietnam has an abundant young, well-trained, hard-working workforce, working in many countries around the world, and is well-regarded. I believe that this will be the basis for both sides to create a breakthrough in cooperation in this field.
6. Over the past 70 years, overcoming many great challenges and unpredictable historical changes, previous generations have worked tirelessly to cultivate the Vietnam - Bulgaria friendship and multifaceted cooperation, achieving many proud achievements, creating a premise and solid foundation to open up a better future for the relationship between the two countries in the coming decades.
On behalf of the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly, I sincerely thank our Bulgarian friends in different positions for their contributions to the friendly relationship and mutually beneficial development and cooperation between the two countries.
In lieu of a conclusion and to express the feelings of the two countries, I would like to present the profound and humane verses of poetry written by Vice President and female writer Blaga Dimitrova, published in 1969 after many visits to Vietnam amidst the flames of fierce war:
“I am a guest at home.
When your bamboo house is on fire
You welcome me
One hand wipes away tears
Another hand held my hand tightly…”
That touching image will forever remain in our hearts as a wonderful symbol of the fraternal solidarity and loyalty between Vietnam and Bulgaria, despite the changing times, it remains intact and shining.
(*) Second Prize in 2016 and 2021 for Foreign Information for Foreigners with the works "Vietnam - Descendants of the Dragon and the Fairy" and "Miracle of Vietnam".
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