London (VNA) - The official visit to Ireland on February 28-29 byForeign Minister Bui Thanh Son will mark a new stage of development in bilateralrelationship, developing it in a more intensive, effective and sustainabledirection, especially in the fields of politics, diplomacy, economics, trade,investment, climate change response, green growth, education and training, andpeople-to-people exchanges

The statement was made by VietnameseAmbassador to the UK and Ireland Nguyen Hoang Long in an interview granted to the Vietnam NewsAgency on the threshold of the trip.

Long emphasised that the visit, to be madeat the invitation of Irish Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and ForeignMinister Micheál Martin, is of great significance in promoting Vietnam-Irelandrelations, as this is the first by a Vietnamese Foreign Minister to Irelandafter 20 years since the one by Minister Nguyen Dy Nien.

During his stay, Son is scheduled to holdtalks with Irish Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Defence Minister MicheálMartin, and pay courtesy visits to President Michael D. Higgins and CeannComhairle of Dáil Éireann (speaker of the lower house) Seán Ó Fearghaíl.

The two sides will discuss many importantissues in bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues,including the East Sea issue.

The diplomat said that the visit willcontribute to promoting political trust and the exchange of high-leveldelegations between the two countries, especially preparations for the upcomingstate visit to Ireland by President Vo Van Thuong.

The two sides will discuss measures tointensify cooperation at multilateral forums and close coordination in solvingregional and global issues.

Regarding the bilateral relations,Ambassador Long said that the two countries have reaped positive results ineconomic, trade and investment collaboration. Two-way trade reached 3.5 billionUSD last year, of which 340 million USD came from Vietnam’s exports. Currently,Ireland ranks 61st out of the 141 countries and territories pouringcapital into the Southeast Asian nation, with a combined registered capital of44.3 million USD in 41 projects.

According to the diplomat, education andtraining has an important position and is a bright spot in bilateral cooperation.The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation inhigher education and another on collaboration in information technology and communicationstraining in November 2016. Since 2009, the Irish Government has offered Vietnamfull scholarships under the Irish Development Experience Sharing Programme(IDEAS).

The two sides are also working to bringinto full play advantages in cooperation in health, agriculture, pharmaceuticals,sustainable development, and information technology, he said.

In the “Global Ireland: Delivering in theAsia-Pacific region to 2025” strategy, introduced in January 2020, Irelandconsidered Vietnam one of its important partners in the Asia-Pacific region ingeneral and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in particular. Vietnamis currently the only country in the region that Ireland has included in its internationaldevelopment cooperation programme called Irish Aid to promote collaboration betweenthe two countries in such areas as climate action, gender equality, settlementof bomb and mine consequences, education, and people-to-people exchanges./.