Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Hungary contributes to consolidating political trust, deepening the Vietnam-Hungary Comprehensive Partnership in all aspects, and bringing a new breeze to the long-standing traditional friendship between the two countries.
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| Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hosted the official welcoming ceremony for General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, who is on an official visit to Hungary from September 8 to September 11, 2018. (Source: VNA) |
At the invitation of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, began an official visit to Hungary from January 18-20.
History
This is the first official visit to Hungary by the Vietnamese Prime Minister in 15 years and the first bilateral visit in 2024 by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and also the first Prime Minister-level talks since the two countries upgraded their relations to Comprehensive Partnership in 2018. The visit takes place in the context of the two countries aiming to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025. Vietnam and Hungary have a traditional friendship, with a history of more than 70 years since the two countries officially established diplomatic relations on February 3, 1950. Although geographically far apart, Vietnam and Hungary have many things in common in terms of fighting spirit, overcoming all hardships of the war for national independence. In the cause of national liberation and national construction, the State and people of Hungary have given the Vietnamese people valuable support and assistance, both materially and spiritually. In the movement "Vietnam, we are with you!" Hungary has organized many blood donation and material donations to help the Vietnamese people as well as participated in the International Commission for Supervision and Control of the Implementation of the Paris Agreement on Vietnam. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two nations have always stood side by side, supporting each other during the war years as well as in the process of national construction. The friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries are increasingly good in many fields such as education and training, law and justice, culture, sports, people-to-people exchange, etc.
Political trust is the foundation
Hungary has always considered Vietnam an important partner in Southeast Asia. The two countries became Comprehensive Partners in September 2018 during the official visit to Hungary by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. In recent years, the political relations between the two countries have grown deeper on the basis of mutual trust and understanding, creating a solid foundation to promote bilateral relations. Exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones, have taken place through all channels of the Party, Government, National Assembly, and localities.
Since 2014, the President, the Chairman of the National Assembly, and the Prime Minister of Hungary have all visited Vietnam, notably: President Áder János (November 2014); Chairman of the National Assembly Kover Laszlo (November 2015); Prime Minister Viktor Orbán (September 2017); Permanent Vice Chairman of the Hungarian National Assembly Márta Mátrai (January 2022)...
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| The official visit to Hungary by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, his wife and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation contributed to consolidating political trust and deepening the Vietnam-Hungary Comprehensive Partnership in all fields. (Source: VGP) |
In response to the Hungarian leaders' warm welcome and to deepen the relationship between the two countries, the General Secretary, President, National Assembly Chairman and Prime Minister of Vietnam have all visited Hungary. Notable among them were the visits of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (September 2018); National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (2017); National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue held online talks with Hungarian Parliament Chairman Laszlo Kover (July 2021), and made an official visit to Hungary (June 2022); Minister Bui Thanh Son and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto met on the sidelines of the High-level General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA (September 2023); Hungarian Minister of Justice Bence Tuzon visited and worked in Vietnam (November 2023)... Vietnam and Hungary also cooperate closely, effectively and support each other at multilateral forums, especially at the United Nations and within the framework of ASEM. The Hungarian Government supports Vietnam to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term. At the same time, Hungary also supports and promotes comprehensive relations between Vietnam and the EU, including the signing, ratification and full implementation of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)... Vietnam supports Hungary in ECOSOS for the 2011-2013 term under the rotation mechanism of the Eastern European group. In addition, within the framework of Asia-Europe cooperation (ASEM), Vietnam supports Hungary's initiative on the role of water resources in the strategy for sustainable regional development. Vietnam is also ready to support Hungary in strengthening cooperation with ASEAN and the Association's member countries.
Effective cooperation in many fields
The political trust between the two countries is the basic foundation for promoting other relations, especially economic and trade relations. Hungary has actively promoted the ratification of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and is the first EU member state to ratify the Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). Over the past years, bilateral economic and trade cooperation has made strong breakthroughs. In 2021, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade turnover still reached 1.1 billion USD; in 2022 it reached more than 1.2 billion USD; in 2023 it reached 0.85 billion USD. The trade balance between the two countries is gradually becoming more balanced. The two countries aim to promote bilateral economic, trade and investment relations, take advantage of opportunities brought about by the EVFTA, and strive to increase two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Hungary by 10% per year.
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| National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue visited and encouraged the staff of the Embassy and the Vietnamese community in Hungary during his visit to Hungary, June 2022. (Source: Vietnamese Embassy in Hungary) |
According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Hungary Nguyen Thi Bich Thao, despite achieving good growth rates in recent times, trade relations between Vietnam and Hungary are not commensurate with their available potential. Vietnam is a developing country, increasingly in need of modern machinery, equipment, and products with high added value... At the same time, Vietnam has strengths in manufacturing and exporting agricultural products, seafood, textiles, footwear, electronic components... Therefore, the two sides can increase trade exchanges to exploit each other's strengths and supplement goods lacking in each country's market due to lack of production conditions. In terms of investment, by the end of 2023, Hungary ranked 52nd out of 144 countries and territories investing directly in Vietnam with 21 projects, with a total registered capital of 72.26 million USD. Hungary considers Vietnam a priority partner in its international development assistance policy. Some projects using Hungarian ODA loans have been bringing socio-economic efficiency to Vietnam such as the project to build a population management system, the project to supply domestic water to Quang Trach district, Quang Binh province... Labor cooperation is a potential area of cooperation between the two countries. From 2018 to now, more than 1,000 Vietnamese workers have gone to work in factories and companies in Hungary in industries such as mushroom growing, food processing, construction... Education and training is a traditional area of cooperation between the two countries. In the four decades from 1950 to 1989, Hungary supported the training of nearly 4,000 doctors, masters, and engineers for Vietnam, many of whom have held important positions in Vietnam. Hungary is the country that provides the most scholarships to Vietnamese students in the Central Eastern Europe region. Since 2018, the Hungarian Government has increased the number of scholarships for Vietnam to 200 per year at all training levels and fields in which Hungary has strengths such as medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, technology, information technology, economics, law, music, etc.
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| The Hungary-Vietnam Friendship Association plays an active role in promoting friendship between the people of the two countries and promoting Vietnam in Hungary. (Source: Embassy of Vietnam in Hungary) |
The Hungary-Vietnam Friendship Association plays an active role in promoting friendship between the people of the two countries and promoting Vietnam in Hungary. The Vietnamese community in Hungary currently has about 6,000 people, well integrated and prestigious in the host country. Under the leadership of the Vietnamese Association in Hungary, there are always many positive activities, towards the homeland, promoting Vietnamese culture and traditions. In the context of such positive developments in the relationship between the two countries, the official visit to Hungary by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife this time is of great significance in further deepening the Vietnam-Hungary Comprehensive Partnership, especially in economics, education-training, pharmaceutical technology, etc. At the same time, in the context that Hungary will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) in the last 6 months of 2024, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Hungary is a favorable opportunity for Vietnam to strengthen coordination with the EU on regional and global issues, join hands to contribute to resolving challenges, bringing about practical and effective results, for the benefit of the people of the two countries, peace and stability in each country, the region and the world. With such well-founded expectations, we are fully confident that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Hungary in the first days of the new year 2024 will continue to contribute to strengthening political trust and deepening the Vietnam-Hungary Comprehensive Partnership in all fields.
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