Vietnam and Bulgaria issued a Joint Statement affirming the commitments of the two countries' senior leaders in promoting cooperation in all fields for the benefit of the two peoples, peace and sustainable development.
At the invitation of President Luong Cuong, President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev and his wife, along with a high-ranking delegation of the Bulgarian State, paid an official visit to Vietnam from November 24-28, 2024.
On this occasion, the two sides also issued a Joint Statement affirming the commitments of the two countries' senior leaders in promoting cooperation in areas where both sides have strengths and needs, for the benefit of the people of both countries, for peace, stability, and sustainable development in each region and the world.
Here we respectfully introduce the full text of the Joint Statement:
On the basis of the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries spanning over 7 decades, on the occasion of the official visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam by President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev from November 24-28, 2024, the two sides affirmed their desire to enhance substantive and effective cooperation towards a strategic partnership as expressed in the Vietnam-Bulgaria Joint Statement in 2013.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of Bulgaria agree to make joint efforts to promote cooperation in the following areas:
1. On political and diplomatic relations:
- Committed to continuing to develop mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, based on mutual respect and trust; coordinate to well organize the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2025;
- Continue to increase delegation exchanges at all levels, especially at high levels, to demonstrate the leaders' determination and political trust, while creating an important driving force to promote bilateral cooperation in many fields between the two countries in accordance with the new situation;
- Emphasize the importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation and support the continued strengthening of contacts and cooperation through the implementation of the new Cooperation Agreement between the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria signed in September 2023; enhance the role of the Vietnam-Bulgaria Friendship Parliamentarians' Group;
- Maintain regular political consultations between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs to discuss bilateral issues and stances on international and regional issues of mutual concern; promote cooperation between the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and the Diplomatic Academy of Bulgaria;
- Commit to enhancing coordination and mutual support at international and regional forums, especially the United Nations and the ASEAN-EU framework; support a united, strong and prosperous ASEAN community, playing a central role in the regional structure and strengthening the ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership.
- Emphasize the importance of maintaining peace, stability, safety and security based on international law, including UNCLOS 1982, and the principles of the United Nations.
2. On economic and trade cooperation:
- Agreed to enhance the effectiveness of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries commensurate with their potential and political trust; emphasized the importance of the Vietnam-Bulgaria Intergovernmental Committee on economic, trade and scientific and technological cooperation, considering this an important mechanism to promote cooperation in areas of mutual interest and benefit.
Based on the results of the 24th Intergovernmental Committee Meeting held in May 2024 in Sofia, it was agreed to study and propose areas of cooperation with appropriate content and incentives to soon implement specific and practical cooperation programs and projects for the benefit of both countries;
- Support the further deepening of Vietnam-EU relations on the basis of the Vietnam-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, together with the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement and Investment Protection Agreement, creating new opportunities for Bulgaria-Vietnam relations;
- Make better use of the opportunities brought about by the EVFTA, actively promote connections and support the business communities and localities of the two countries; facilitate goods from both sides to access each other's markets, and strive to increase two-way trade turnover to 500 million USD in the coming time;
- Agreed to promote cooperation in a number of industries and priority areas to attract investment in line with the general development trend, participating in the global value chain such as green transformation, digital transformation, electric cars in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution which is changing the foundation and structure of traditional economies to transform into knowledge-based and innovative economies.
3. On defense and security cooperation:
- Strengthen cooperation in the defense field through active defense strategic dialogue at all levels; study the possibility of establishing a working-level defense consultation mechanism; strengthen training cooperation, first of all training Vietnamese military pilots at the Ben-cop-xki Academy.
Promote bilateral military technical cooperation; soon re-send the Bulgarian Defense Attaché to Vietnam.
- Expand cooperation in the field of training and education; share experiences in preparing forces to participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations, respond to crises, natural disasters and emergencies in peacetime.
- Strengthen cooperation in the security field on the basis of the signed security cooperation agreements between the two countries; maintain coordination and information sharing in the security and police fields between the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the State Agency for National Security and the Ministry of Interior of Bulgaria; continue to effectively implement existing agreements, especially on cooperation in training and fostering officials on the basis of harmonizing the interests of the two countries.
4. On cooperation in science-technology, education-training:
- Emphasize the importance of continuing to promote and strengthen the cooperative relationship between the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
On the basis of the new Cooperation Agreement to develop bilateral science and technology in all fields signed by the two sides in 2022, Vietnam and Bulgaria recognize the great opportunities that digital transformation, green economy, innovation trends... are bringing; taking advantage of each side's strengths and advantages, in line with the Development Strategy orientation to 2030, vision to 2045, and the tasks and challenges of the two countries' Academies in the period of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution;
- Affirming that education and training is a traditional and effective field of cooperation between the two countries. Through the Agreement on educational cooperation for the period 2025-2028 signed on this occasion between the Ministry of Education and Training of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria, to improve the quality of training, develop high-quality human resources, and at the same time contribute to promoting scientific research and innovation; agreeing to encourage universities and training institutions of the two countries to have direct cooperation with each other, including developing research on Bulgaria in Vietnam and research on Vietnam in Bulgaria;
- Agreed to jointly develop mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of information and communications technology through strengthening the bilateral institutional framework and promoting direct connections within the business sector.
5. On labor cooperation and vocational training:
- Coordinate to explore the possibility of expanding cooperation in the field of labor and strengthening cooperation in vocational training in areas such as nursing, tourism, construction, textiles, and other fields, to support Vietnamese workers with the potential to work, based on the Memorandum of Understanding on Labor and Social Welfare Cooperation signed in 2018 between the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of Bulgaria.
6. On agriculture, livestock and fisheries:
- Confirming the great potential for expanding cooperation in the fields of agriculture and fisheries, as well as in the food industry, including wine production;
- Support Vietnam's efforts to increase agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to the EU market in compliance with high quality standards and traceability;
- Promote the development of a circular economy and a green economy, encouraging and supporting each other to achieve sustainable, responsible and environmentally friendly aquaculture and fishing, in order to meet EU regulations, in particular those related to combating illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing (IUU).
7. On culture, sports and tourism:
- Agree to coordinate in organizing activities to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025 on the basis of the Cultural Cooperation Program for the period 2024 - 2026 signed in 2023 between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria, including exchanging cultural and artistic groups, organizing film weeks and cultural and artistic exhibitions;
- Strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the Olympic Committees of the two countries and have a mechanism to support training exchanges for national teams in sports of interest to both sides;
- Strengthen the exchange of information, management experience, promotion and support for training programs and tourism human resource development; coordinate in visa procedures for citizens of the two countries through the Tourism Cooperation Plan for the period 2024-2026 signed in 2023 between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria.
8. On local cooperation:
- Affirming that local cooperation between the two countries still has much potential that needs to be promoted to promote traditional friendly cooperation; agreeing to support localities of the two countries to enhance cooperation activities and establish friendly cooperation relations in accordance with the needs of both sides; enhancing trade and investment promotion, welcoming localities of both sides to sign and implement cooperation contents (between Can Tho-Ruse) on this occasion.
9. On development cooperation:
- Continue to strengthen relations in the field of development cooperation through identifying priority areas of support for Vietnam, according to needs and in line with existing EU documents, including the Group Europe and Global Gateways Initiatives, in an effort to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
10. About the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria:
- Affirming that Vietnamese citizens who have studied and worked in Bulgaria and the Vietnamese community currently living in Bulgaria are important factors in strengthening the friendly relations between the two countries, actively contributing to the development of economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries; continuing to commit to creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria as well as Bulgarian citizens living in Vietnam to live, study, work stably and promote the role of a bridge for the relations between the two countries./.
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