Buenos Aires (VNA) - Vietnam and Uruguay should continue with high-level and all-level delegation exchanges on all Party, State and National Assembly channels and through people-to-people diplomacy to protect and promote the achievements of the bilateral diplomatic relations over the past three decades, a diplomat has said.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency, Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay Duong Quoc Thanh said that since the two countries established their diplomatic ties on August 11, 1993, their friendship and cooperation has developed positively in the fields of politics, diplomacy and trade, with political trust and mutual understanding enhanced continuously.

This year, the two countries are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties with the highlight of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s official visit to Iran in April. The visit is expected to contribute to enhancing mutual understanding and trust at the highest level, and turn a new page in the relations of the two countries, stated Thanh.

According to him, economic cooperation is an important pillar and a bright spot in the bilateral relations. Two-way trade increased from 27 million USD in 2007 to 190 million USD in 2022, up 106.5% year-on-year.

However, the figure maintains modest compared to the two nations’ potential. Ample room remains for the two sides to boost their cooperation in cattle breeding, agro-fishery processing, biotechnology-genetics, rice varieties, water purifier production technology, and information technology.

Vietnam is studying the Uruguayan agricultural market with a view to designing a suitable plan and roadmap to promote the trading of farm produce, ensure a balance of interests between the two countries. Vietnam hopes that its key products such as aquatic products, rice, coffee, dried fruits, furniture and construction materials will be facilitated to access the Uruguayan market. 

At multilateral forums, the two countries continue to promote cooperation and mutual support. Uruguay wants Vietnam’s support in joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and always expresses its backing for Vietnam in the process of negotiating a free trade agreement with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) to which Uruguay is a member, along with Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. In particular, the two sides have agreed to protect principles and values of international law in dealing with multilateral issues.

Vietnam and Uruguay should promote cooperation not only in politics and economics, but also in science, industry, culture and tourism, for the benefit of the two countries, and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the regions, said Thanh.

Regarding the focus of bilateral cooperation in 2023 and the following years, the diplomat said that currently, the two sides continue to step up the implementation of measures to facilitate the access of their goods to each other's market.

The two sides need to further promote trade ties to match their fine political relations and potential, especially in bilateral and multilateral frameworks, he said, adding that it is also necessary to diversify the structure of import and export products with the aim of increasing the total bilateral trade turnover, encouraging and creating conditions for businesses to cooperate and access each other's market./.