Austrian President Heinz Fischer will pay an official visit to Vietnamfrom May 29-31 to further promote the friendship and multifacetedcooperation between the two countries.
As one ofthe key events to mark the 40 th anniversary of Vietnam-Austriadiplomatic ties, the visit aims to strengthen understanding and trust inpolitics and deepen cooperation in areas of priority such as educationand training, science and technology, and trade and investment.
During the visit, several trade agreements are expected to be signed between the two countries.
In 1972, Austria was one of the first Western countries that set up diplomatic ties with Vietnam .
Since then, the cooperation between the two countries has developedcontinuously through the regular exchange of high-ranking visits,including Austria visits by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in April 1998,Vice President Truong My Hoa in September 2005 and President Nguyen MinhTriet in June 2008 as well as Vietnam visits by President ThomasKlestil in March 1995, Prime Minister Wolfgang Schuessel in October 2004and President of the Austrian Federal Council Sissy Roth-Halvax in May2006.
In 2009, when Vietnam and Austria werenon-permanent members of the UN Security Council, the two countriescoordinated and supported each other in some issues of common concern,especially in organising open discussions on “children in armedconflicts” and “women, peace and security”.
Inrecent years, two-way trade between Vietnam and Austria has seenpositive developments, reaching 107.9 million USD by February 2012, up160 percent year on year.
Vietnam mainly exports footwear,wooden products, garments, machinery and equipment to Austria whileimporting pharmaceuticals, steel, paper, animal feed and raw materialsfrom the European country.
Austria now has 19projects in Vietnam with a total investment of 50.8 million USD,ranking 51 st among 94 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
Austria ’s official development assistance(ODA) and preferential credits for Vietnam have been used toimplement projects in the fields of railway transport, medicalequipment, firefighting and vocational training.
Regarding educational cooperation, Austria annually provides about 20 post-graduate scholarships for Vietnam .
In addition, the Austrian Embassy in Hanoi provides Germanlanguage support with teaching and studying documents and equipment forHanoi-based universities.
Seven Vietnamese universities have signed cooperative agreements with their Austrian counterparts.
In 2008, Austria decided to provide scholarships worth 600,000EUR for nearly 100 Vietnamese students to study in the country.
The two sides are also speeding up the signing of a bilateral cooperative agreement on science and technology.
Tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Austria has seen strongdevelopments. The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO) and theAustrian Embassy are coordinating with the Vietnamese side to organiseseminars and fairs to promote Vietnamese tourism in 2012.
Austria is currently home to more than 5,000 Vietnamese people.-VNA
As one ofthe key events to mark the 40 th anniversary of Vietnam-Austriadiplomatic ties, the visit aims to strengthen understanding and trust inpolitics and deepen cooperation in areas of priority such as educationand training, science and technology, and trade and investment.
During the visit, several trade agreements are expected to be signed between the two countries.
In 1972, Austria was one of the first Western countries that set up diplomatic ties with Vietnam .
Since then, the cooperation between the two countries has developedcontinuously through the regular exchange of high-ranking visits,including Austria visits by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in April 1998,Vice President Truong My Hoa in September 2005 and President Nguyen MinhTriet in June 2008 as well as Vietnam visits by President ThomasKlestil in March 1995, Prime Minister Wolfgang Schuessel in October 2004and President of the Austrian Federal Council Sissy Roth-Halvax in May2006.
In 2009, when Vietnam and Austria werenon-permanent members of the UN Security Council, the two countriescoordinated and supported each other in some issues of common concern,especially in organising open discussions on “children in armedconflicts” and “women, peace and security”.
Inrecent years, two-way trade between Vietnam and Austria has seenpositive developments, reaching 107.9 million USD by February 2012, up160 percent year on year.
Vietnam mainly exports footwear,wooden products, garments, machinery and equipment to Austria whileimporting pharmaceuticals, steel, paper, animal feed and raw materialsfrom the European country.
Austria now has 19projects in Vietnam with a total investment of 50.8 million USD,ranking 51 st among 94 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.
Austria ’s official development assistance(ODA) and preferential credits for Vietnam have been used toimplement projects in the fields of railway transport, medicalequipment, firefighting and vocational training.
Regarding educational cooperation, Austria annually provides about 20 post-graduate scholarships for Vietnam .
In addition, the Austrian Embassy in Hanoi provides Germanlanguage support with teaching and studying documents and equipment forHanoi-based universities.
Seven Vietnamese universities have signed cooperative agreements with their Austrian counterparts.
In 2008, Austria decided to provide scholarships worth 600,000EUR for nearly 100 Vietnamese students to study in the country.
The two sides are also speeding up the signing of a bilateral cooperative agreement on science and technology.
Tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Austria has seen strongdevelopments. The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO) and theAustrian Embassy are coordinating with the Vietnamese side to organiseseminars and fairs to promote Vietnamese tourism in 2012.
Austria is currently home to more than 5,000 Vietnamese people.-VNA
