Hanoi(VNA) – The official visit to Romania by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc andhis spouse will reiterate Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of treasuring deepeningthe traditional friendship and cooperation with the European country in a morepractical and efficient manner, Ambassador of Vietnam to Romania Dang TranPhong has said.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse will make an official visit toRomania from April 14-16 at the invitation of Prime Minister Viorica Dancila.

The Ambassador said Romania is among the first 10 nations that establisheddiplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1950, and the two countries have had soundfriendship and cooperation over years.

This visit, the first by a Vietnamese PM to Romania since 1977, looks to openup opportunities for Vietnam to gain Romania’s support in the ties with theEuropean Union (EU), especially in pushing for the signing of the EU-VietnamFree Trade Agreement (EVFTA) during the country’s rotating EU Presidency in thefirst half of 2019.

Besides, the visit also looks to step up the two sides’ coordination atinternational forums and build plans to prepare for the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, the diplomat said.

The two sides will seek to boost cooperation across politics, economics,trade-investment, education-training, culture-tourism, agriculture, labour, andlocal partnership during the visit.

Regarding the cooperation prospects, Phong said the traditional friendship andmulti-dimensional cooperation between Vietnam and Romania are practicalsupplements to the relations between Vietnam and the EU.

Such cooperative mechanisms between the EU and Vietnam like the Partnership andCooperation Agreement (PCA) and Free Trade Agreement bring in new cooperativeopportunities and advantages for both Vietnam and Romania.

Within the EU framework, Romania will be a bridge for Vietnam to enhance itsrelations with other EU countries while in the ASEAN framework, Vietnam willhelp step up the relations between Romania and the ASEAN, especially when Romaniatakes in the rotating EU Presidency in the first half of 2019 and Vietnam worksas the ASEAN Chair in 2020.

Romania backs Vietnam regarding EVFTA and commits to pushing up the signing andratification of the deal during its EU Presidency as the pact will generatestrategic benefits for the EU in ratcheting up its relations with ASEAN memberstates as well as new trade and investment opportunities for Vietnam and the EUin general and Romania in particular, he said.

Phong said that Vietnam and Romania have conditions to expand their cooperationin trade, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, IT, science-technology, andenvironmental protection.

Considerable progresses in bilateral cooperation in the past years createdmomentum for the countries to bolster existing relations in politics,diplomacy, security, defence, economy-trade, education, culture-tourism, localcooperation, and people-to-people exchange, he said.

The two countries are working to diversify trade, agricultural, labor, tourism,educational, and training partnership to meet their potential, the diplomatnoted.

Phong expressed his hope that built on the traditional friendship and soundmultifaceted cooperation, new opportunities in Vietnam-EU cooperation, andefforts by both sides, the Romania visit by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucwill create a strong impetus to take bilateral ties to the next level.-VNA