President Luong Cuong presided over the official welcoming ceremony for the President of Bulgaria.

The visit takes place in the context of the two countries celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Bulgaria diplomatic relations, aiming to further consolidate and strengthen bilateral relations.

Hanoi children welcome Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and his wife on an official visit to Vietnam.

At the invitation of President Luong Cuong, President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev and his wife arrived in Hanoi, beginning an official visit to Vietnam.

On the morning of November 25, at the Presidential Palace, President Luong Cuong and his wife presided over the welcoming ceremony for President Rumen Radev and his wife on an official visit to Vietnam.

Attending the welcoming ceremony were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son; Head of the Office of the President Le Khanh Hai; Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son; Deputy Minister of National Defense Vo Minh Luong; Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Van Tuyen; Vietnamese Ambassador to Bulgaria Do Hoang Long; Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong; Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Do Thanh Trung; Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan; Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Le Van Thanh; Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dinh; Assistant to the President Tong Thanh Tri.

Many children in the capital waved flags of both countries to welcome President Rumen Radev and his wife and the Bulgarian high-ranking delegation.

This is the first visit in 11 years by the President of Bulgaria and also the first visit of Mr. Rumen Radev to Vietnam as President.

The visit takes place in the context that the two countries are looking forward to celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Bulgaria diplomatic relations (February 8, 1950 - February 8, 2025), aiming to further consolidate and strengthen the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.

The motorcade carrying President Filipe Rumen Radev and his wife entered the Presidential Palace. President Luong Cuong and his wife were present on the red carpet to warmly welcome President Rumen Radev, who led the Bulgarian high-ranking delegation on an official visit to Vietnam. Children in the capital presented President Rumen Radev and his wife with fresh bouquets of flowers.

Amidst the welcoming music, President Luong Cuong invited the President of Bulgaria to step up to the podium.

President Luong Cuong and Bulgarian President Rumen Radev review the Guard of Honor of the Vietnam People's Army.

After listening to the national anthems of the two countries, President Luong Cuong and President Rumen Radev left the podium, bowed to the military flag and inspected the Guard of Honor of the Vietnam People's Army. Next, the two leaders introduced the members of the high-ranking delegations of the two countries attending the welcoming ceremony.

Vietnam and Bulgaria have a traditional friendship, the two countries established diplomatic relations on February 8, 1950.

President Ho Chi Minh's official friendship visit to Bulgaria in August 1957 laid the foundation and marked an important milestone in the history of relations between the two countries.

During the most difficult and arduous years of the struggle for national independence and nation building, Vietnam has always received valuable support, both material and spiritual, from the Government and people of Bulgaria.

Many economic, educational and medical projects in Vietnam have been built with the material and technical assistance and the selfless labor of Bulgarian experts. Many Vietnamese people worked and studied in Bulgaria in the 70s and 80s of the 20th century to become leading scientists, experts and engineers of Vietnam, who have been actively participating in making important contributions to the cause of defending the Fatherland and building the country.

Promoting that fine tradition, the Party, State, Government and people of the two countries have made continuous efforts to cultivate and strengthen bilateral relations over the past seven decades, through regular exchanges of high-level delegations and implementation of the Intergovernmental Committee meeting mechanism and periodic political consultations; implementing many agreements, programs and cooperation arrangements; and actively supporting each other at international forums.

President Luong Cuong shook hands with members of the Bulgarian delegation.

Economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria has seen positive developments in recent times. Bulgaria is one of the European Union (EU) countries taking the lead in ratifying the Vietnam-EU Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA), as well as promoting the signing and ratification of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

In September 2023, the Bulgarian National Assembly ratified the Vietnam-European Union Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) with an overwhelming majority of votes in favor, thereby demonstrating the importance of the traditional friendship and cooperation in many fields between the two countries, while creating a solid and favorable legal basis for businesses of the two countries to expand investment cooperation in the coming time after the agreement comes into effect.

Bilateral trade turnover in 2023 will reach 211.5 million USD and in the first 10 months of 2024 will reach 229.2 million USD. Regarding investment, as of October 2024, Bulgaria has 14 valid investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 31.32 million USD.

Recently, at the 24th meeting of the Vietnam-Bulgaria Intergovernmental Committee in Sofia (May 2024), the two sides discussed many new cooperation contents, in line with international trends such as digital economy, e-government, sustainable energy development...

In the context of the cooperation between the two countries having been implemented synchronously in recent times, achieving many positive results in all fields, President Rumen Radev's visit to Vietnam this time is expected to continue to contribute to promoting and deepening the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, especially in areas where one side has advantages and the other side has needs.

After the welcoming ceremony, President Luong Cuong and President Rumen Radev had a private meeting and then led the high-ranking delegations of the two countries to hold talks, assessing the results of cooperation between the two countries in the past time and proposing directions for cooperation in the future. The two leaders will also witness the signing ceremony of cooperation documents./.

According to VNA

Source: https://baobinhduong.vn/chu-tich-nuoc-luong-cuong-chu-tri-le-don-chinh-thuc-tong-thong-bulgaria-a336276.html