At the invitation of President of the Republic of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen, President of the Republic of Italy Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis, on the morning of July 23, President Vo Van Thuong and his wife set off for an official visit to Austria, a state visit to Italy and a visit to the Vatican from July 23 to 28.
This is the first visit to Austria by a Vietnamese President in the past 15 years and the first exchange of delegations at the head of state level between Vietnam, Italy and the Vatican in the past 7 years, and is also the most important highlight on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and 10 years of the Vietnam - Italy strategic partnership.
Visitors view Vietnamese handicraft products at the MIDA International Handicraft Fair held from April 25 to May 1 in Florence (Italy).
VNA
Promoting bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Austria
Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Trung Kien emphasized that this is also a visit for the two countries to affirm the very good relationship that is developing comprehensively between the two countries, and at the same time, it is also a visit for the President to meet and work with multilateral diplomatic forums, thereby affirming Vietnam's voice and role in multilateral international forums.
Vienna, the capital of Austria, is the world's third largest center of multilateral diplomacy (next to New York in the US and Geneva in Switzerland), home to many major UN headquarters such as the IAEA, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
In Austria, President Vo Van Thuong will have meetings with key leaders of the host country. The President will attend an official welcoming ceremony and hold talks with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, meet with President of the Austrian Senate Claudia Arpa, and meet and work with the Prime Ministers of the Austrian states of Vienna and Burgenland. In addition, the President will have meetings and work with representatives of international organizations, including the Acting Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). During the visit, the President will also meet and talk with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Austria and several European countries.
Assessing the overall bilateral relationship, Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien said that the relationship between Vietnam and Austria is one of the important relationships in Vietnam's relationship with Europe. Throughout history, Vietnam and Austria have been linked by a very good traditional relationship, which was founded more than 150 years ago when the Austro-Hungarian Empire first sent an honorary consul to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. In 1972, Austria was one of the first countries in Europe to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
Since then, the two countries have deepened their relationship in all areas, from politics to economics, trade, investment, culture, education... 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 sometimes reached about 4 billion USD.
Delegates attending the Vietnam - Austria Business Forum 2021
VNA
Strengthening Vietnam - Italy strategic partnership
Also related to this visit of President Vo Van Thuong, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung emphasized: "The visit is a special event of significance to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Vietnam - Italy diplomatic relations, contributing to opening up new opportunities for the strategic partnership between the two countries to continue to develop strongly, deeply and firmly in the coming decades."
During the visit, President Vo Van Thuong is expected to hold talks with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and attend a State Banquet hosted by the President; meet Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, President of the House of Representatives Lorenzo Fontana, President of the Tuscany Region, Mayor of Rome and Mayor of Florence; and attend a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Italy diplomatic relations held at the Italian Presidential Palace.
The President will also have a number of other activities such as meeting with leaders of the Communist and Democratic parties of Italy; visiting the Vietnamese Embassy and meeting the Vietnamese community in Italy and Italian friends. In addition, the President will visit the Vatican, meet with Pope Francis and the Vatican Prime Minister, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
According to Ambassador Duong Hai Hung, over the past 50 years, the relationship between the two countries has developed positively, comprehensively and in depth in all areas, both bilateral and multilateral cooperation, especially since the two sides signed the "Joint Statement on Establishing a Strategic Partnership" on the occasion of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's state visit to Italy in January 2013.
Vietnam is Italy's largest trading partner in ASEAN and Italy is Vietnam's third largest EU partner. In 2022, despite many fluctuations and difficulties, trade between the two countries reached an all-time high of about 6.2 billion USD, up 11% compared to 2021. The Italian government has included Vietnam in the list of 20 countries that will continue to prioritize promoting trade and investment until 2030.
Besides, Ambassador Duong Hai Hung added: "Recently, Italy's increasing interest in the Indo-Pacific region in general and ASEAN and Vietnam in particular has become increasingly clear."
Thanhnien.vn
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