Vienna (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc began an officialvisit to Austria on October 14 as part of his trip to Europe.

Austria was one ofthe first Western countries setting up diplomatic relations with Vietnam in1972, when the Southeast Asian nation’s struggle for national independence wasstill going on.

The two countries have maintained all-round cooperation through regularhigh-level meetings and exchange of visits, along with cooperation atmultilateral forums like the United Nations and the ASEM.

In 1995, the two sides set up a joint working group to bolster collaborativeties in economy, trade and investment. In August, 2010, the group was upgraded tothe Vietnam-Austria intergovernmental committee at deputy ministerial level on cooperationin economy and trade. The committee held the 9th meeting in Marchlast year.

Two-way trade has grown in recent years, surpassing 4 billion USD in 2017.Vietnam’s exports to Austria include telephones and spare parts, footwear, woodand wooden products, garments, machines, equipment and spare parts. Meanwhile,the country imports pharmaceuticals, machines, equipment, steel,  paper, animal feed, and materials fromAustria.

Austria is the 6th largest importer of Vietnam in Europe. Vietnamearned 2.58 billion USD from shipments to the central European country in thefirst seven months of 2018, up 47 percent year on year, while spending 167million USD purchasing Austrian goods, 16 percent lower than the same time lastyear.

By August 2018, Austria ranked 43rd among 129 countries andterritories having investments in Vietnam, with 31 valid projects valued at143.9 million USD. Most of the projects are of small and medium sizes, focusingon processing, manufacturing, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment.

Regarding Austria’s official development assistance (ODA), the preferentialloans have been used to develop Vietnam’s railway, medical equipment, fire fightingand prevention, and vocational training, among others.

Besides, the two countries have experienced thriving cooperation in culture.Austria annually sends experts to give lecture at the Hanoi Academy of Theatreand Cinema, and the Vietnam National Academy of Music. They inked a Memorandumof Understanding on cultural cooperation on the occasion of the AustrianPresident’s visit to Vietnam in May 2012.

Austria grants some 20 post-graduate scholarships to Vietnam every year, andthe Austrian Embassy in Hanoi has supported Vietnamese universities which offerGerman language training with teaching and studying material and equipment.

Austria is the first stop of PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc during his trip toEurope, during which he will also pay official visits to Belgium and Denmark, makea working visit to the European Union and attend the 12th ASEM Summit (ASEM 12)and the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 Summit (P4G).-VNA