Vietnam and Bulgaria strengthen extensive cooperation, complementing the two economies

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Bulgarian Ambassador Pavlin Todorov.

At the reception, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh congratulated Mr. Pavlin Todorov on his appointment as Bulgarian Ambassador to Vietnam. The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to further strengthen the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, which has a history of nearly 75 years; thanked Bulgaria for always supporting and helping the Vietnamese people in their struggle for national independence and national construction; and for training many experts for Vietnam, many of whom have held high positions in the Vietnamese state apparatus.

The Prime Minister highly appreciated the strong developments in political relations between the two countries in recent times, especially the exchange of high-level delegations through Party, State channels and people-to-people exchanges, demonstrated through the visit to Bulgaria by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue in October 2023 and the recent visit to Vietnam by the Bulgarian National Assembly Chairman in January 2024..., contributing to strengthening political trust between the two countries' senior leaders.

The Prime Minister emphasized that during the term of Ambassador Pavlin Todorov, in 2025, Vietnam and Bulgaria will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (1950-2025), and suggested that the two sides closely coordinate to plan meaningful activities to celebrate this important event. On this occasion, the Prime Minister highly appreciated the good coordination and effective support of the two countries at multilateral forums. The Prime Minister asked Bulgaria and the Ambassador personally to support Vietnam in its relations with the EU, urge the remaining EU member countries to soon ratify EVIPA, and support the EC to soon remove the IUU yellow card for Vietnam's seafood exports.

Regarding economic and trade cooperation, we are pleased to see that bilateral trade turnover has grown steadily every year, especially since the EVFTA took effect. However, the Prime Minister said that the scale of trade and investment cooperation is still small compared to its potential. He hopes that the two sides will further strengthen cooperation, especially in areas where both sides have complementary strengths, such as green, digital and circular economy, and agriculture.

The Prime Minister affirmed that the Vietnamese Government will create all favorable conditions for businesses of both sides to connect and cooperate; he suggested that both sides effectively promote existing cooperation mechanisms such as holding an early meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee and considering opening new suitable cooperation mechanisms.

In addition, the Prime Minister hoped that the two countries would continue to promote cooperation in traditional and strong fields such as education and training, defense, security, culture, tourism, etc.; and asked Bulgaria to continue supporting and creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria to increasingly integrate with the host country to act as a bridge and make practical contributions to the friendly relations between the two peoples.

On this occasion, the Prime Minister conveyed the regards and invitation to visit Vietnam from General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to the President of Bulgaria.

For his part, Ambassador Pavlin Todorov thanked the Prime Minister of the CP PMC for taking the time to meet him; expressed his pleasure at being appointed as Ambassador to Vietnam and will strive to further promote the friendly cooperation between the two countries, especially increasing the exchange of delegations at all levels to enhance political trust and promote trade and investment cooperation between the two countries.

The Bulgarian Ambassador also highly appreciated Vietnam's achievements in economic and social development; agreed that the relationship between the two countries is developing very well; highly appreciated the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria; affirmed that Bulgaria values the role and position of Vietnam in the region and is ready to support Vietnam in its relations with the EU.

Ambassador Pavlin Todorov affirmed that he will closely coordinate with Vietnamese agencies in the process of performing his duties; promoting the tradition of friendly cooperation that has been cultivated by the leaders of the two countries. In the immediate future, the two sides will coordinate to organize activities to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. He believes that in the coming time, the Vietnam-Bulgaria relationship will be raised to a new height.

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