Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, his spouse and ahigh-ranking delegation of Vietnam left Hanoi on October 14 morning for Vienna,Austria, to attend the 12th ASEM Summit (ASEM 12) and the Partnering for GreenGrowth and the Global Goals 2030 Summit (P4G).

He will also pay officials visits to Austria, Belgium, Demark and a workingvisit to the European Union (EU).

The visits from October 14-21 are being made at the invitations of President ofthe European Council Donald Tusk, President of the European CommissionJean-Claude Juncker, Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz, Belgian PrimeMinister Charles Michel, and Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

PM Phuc’s attendance at ASEM 12, P4G and his visits to Austria, Belgium,Denmark and the EU aim to affirm Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence,self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, diversification andmultilateralization of international relations, and active internationalintegration.

The visits alsoconvey the message of Vietnam’s extensive and extensive integration into theinternational community, enhancement of multilateral diplomacy, contributionsto building and shaping multilateral institutions and effective participationin the settlement of global challenges at multilateral organisations.

Vietnam and EU officially set up diplomatic ties on November 28, 1990. In 1996,the European Commission (EC) set up its representative delegation in Hanoi.

The two sides havemaintained cooperation mechanisms, including the annual Political Consultation at Vice-Ministerial Level; the Vietnam-EU Joint Committee; the Vietnam-EU human rights dialogue.

Vietnam and the EU have also coordinated closely at multilateralforums and international organisations, especially within the framework of the ASEAN-EUcooperation mechanism, the ASEM and the UN, in addressing global issues such asclimate change, sustainable development, energy security, counter-terrorism andnon-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and illegal migration.

In 2017, EU was the third biggest trade partner of Vietnam after China and theUS, and was the second biggest importer of products from the Southeast Asiannation. Two-way trade in the year reached 50.46 billion USD, up 11.9 percentyear-on-year.

In the first six months of 2018, bilateral trade hit 27billion USD, representing an increase of 12.35 percent against 2017.

Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, Austria and Belgium areVietnam’s largest export markets, with annual turnover exceeding 1 billion USD.Vietnam’s main exports to the markets are textiles and garment, footwear,coffee, seafood, computers, and phone components.

The two sides have been actively promoting the signing of the EU-Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA).

By the end of August 2018, 24 out of the 28 EU member nations had invested inVietnam with 2,141 valid projects worth about 24.17 billion USD.

The EU is now the largest provider of non-refundable aid forVietnam. In 2014-2020, the EC pledged 400 million EUR in aid for Vietnam, focusingon sustainable energy and institution. As planned, the EU will spend about 350million EUR on supporting projects covering energy saving, renewable energy andrural electrification in Vietnam.

The EU has also decided to support the second phase of the project to develop healthcaresystems towards universal health coverage in Vietnam in the 2015-2019 period witha total value of 115 million EUR. This is the EU's largest budget health assistanceprogramme in Asia.-VNA