President Vo Van Thuong and his wife arrive in Vienna, beginning an official visit to Austria.

At exactly 1:45 p.m. (local time) on July 23, the plane carrying President Vo Van Thuong and his wife Phan Thi Thanh Tam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation landed at Vienna International Airport, Austria, beginning a working trip in Europe.

Chủ tịch nước Võ Văn Thưởng và Phu nhân đến Áo, bắt đầu chuyến thăm chính thức

President Vo Van Thuong and his wife arrive in Austria, starting an official visit. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

Welcoming President Vo Van Thuong and his wife Phan Thi Thanh Tam and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation at the airport on the Austrian side was Director General of the Protocol Department Maximilian Hennig. On the Vietnamese side were Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Trung Kien, Honorary Consul Designated by Vietnam in Austria Markus Kirchier, and officials and staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Austria.

Austria is the first country in Europe that President Vo Van Thuong and his wife officially visited at the invitation of Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.

It is expected that within the framework of the visit, President Vo Van Thuong will have meetings with key leaders of Austria, including an official welcoming ceremony and talks with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, a meeting with President of the Austrian Senate Claudia Arpa, and meetings with the Prime Ministers of the Austrian states of Vienna and Burgenland.

Austria is the first country in Europe that President Vo Van Thuong and his wife officially visited at the invitation of Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

In addition, the President will meet and work with representatives of international organizations, including the acting Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The President will also meet and talk with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Austria and several European countries.

This is the first visit to Austria by a Vietnamese President in 15 years. The visit takes place in the context of the two countries celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and after a long period of disruption of bilateral and multilateral foreign affairs activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This is also the first exchange of high-level leaders between the two countries in the past 10 years, so it is highly anticipated by both sides.

The visit of President Vo Van Thuong and his wife to Austria is an opportunity for both sides to affirm the excellent bilateral relationship that is developing comprehensively. In particular, when the President meets and works with multilateral diplomatic forums, it also affirms Vietnam's voice and role in international forums.

The Austrian capital Vienna is the world's third largest center for multilateral diplomacy (alongside New York in the US and Geneva in Switzerland), home to many major United Nations headquarters.

Austria was one of the first European countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam (in 1972). Over the past five decades, the relationship between the two countries has grown in many fields.

Vietnam and Austria are one of the important relationships in Vietnam's relations with Europe. Regarding economic and trade relations, for many years, Austria has always been in the top 10 trade partners of Vietnam in the European Union (EU), in which bilateral turnover before the Covid-19 pandemic reached nearly 4 billion USD.

Since the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into effect, two-way trade has seen a marked improvement. However, Austria’s investment in Vietnam remains modest. Austria currently ranks 41st out of 108 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 43 valid projects and a total registered capital of 148.59 million USD.

The relationship between Vietnam and Austria has developed quite comprehensively, in addition to politics and economics, it has also expanded to the fields of education - training, science - technology and culture with many bilateral exchange activities.

Ambassador of the Republic of Austria to Vietnam Hans-Peter Glanzer said that President Vo Van Thuong's visit to Austria is of great importance and significance, contributing to further tightening the relationship between the two countries.

“We are looking forward to strengthening cooperation in the economic and educational fields. I believe that such visits are always a positive opportunity to strengthen cooperation and further promote certain projects,” Mr. Hans-Peter Glanzer emphasized.

Regarding the prospects for the relationship between the two countries in the coming time, Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Trung Kien and Austrian Ambassador to Vietnam Hans-Peter Glanzer said that the two sides still have a lot of potential to further promote cooperation and hoped that the President's visit this time will contribute to further promoting cooperation in various fields between the two countries in the coming time.

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