Hanoi (VNA) - ℱState President Luong Cuong hosted a reception for out-going Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to Vietnam Jaime Francisco Rodriguez in Hanoi on March 20.

Cuong highly valued the diplomat's contributions to strengthening the bilateral relations during his tenure through all-level delegation exchanges, cultural promotion events, and mutual support at international organisations and multilateral forums. For his part, Rodriguez thanked the Vietnamese State, Government, ministries, friendship organisations, and businesses for their support during his term. He highlighted the positive development of cooperation across the fields of politics, diplomacy, economy, trade, agriculture, epidemiology, culture, and education, saying that this contributed to strengthening and deepening the bilateral relations. The diplomat expressed his admiration for Vietnam's recent development, considering it a model for the Dominican Republic to follow. He also emphasised that the Dominican government and people hold deep affection for Vietnam and will continue to support the Southeast Asian nation at multilateral forums. According to Rodriguez, with the support and coordination of Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies, the embassy effectively contributed to the success of the visit to the Dominican Republic by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in November 2024, which marked a significant milestone and opened up cooperation opportunities in the areas where both countries have strengths and can complement each other, such as agriculture, construction, telecommunications, and science - technology. The ambassador also thanked Vietnam for supporting the restoration of the statue of President Ho Chi Minh in Santo Domingo - the capital of the Dominican Republic, viewing the statue and that of Juan Bosch in Hanoi as iconic projects of the friendship between the two nations. Rodriguez pledged that he, in any position, will do his utmost to contribute to strengthening the bilateral ties, especially in 2025, as both countries prepare to celebrate the 20th founding anniversary of their diplomatic ties. Agreeing with the ambassador's assessments, President Cuong affirmed that Vietnam's consistent foreign policy is to continue to promote and strengthen relations with all countries, including those in Latin America and the Dominican Republic. Emphasising the role and status of the Dominican Republic in the Latin American region, the President said that Vietnam wishes to develop comprehensive cooperative relations with the country in politics-diplomacy, economy-trade, education, and people-to-people exchanges, for the benefit of both nations' people and contributing to peace, stability, and development in both regions. He suggested that in the coming time, both sides should continue to exchange information about the needs to promote and expand cooperation, and coordinate to concretise the agreements signed during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to the Dominican Republic, thereby deepening and diversifying the bilateral cooperation relationship. The President noted that bilateral trade between the two countries has seen progress recently but is still not commensurate with the potential and strengths of each country. Therefore, both sides need to coordinate to further promote economic, trade, and investment cooperation. On this occasion, President Cuong asked the ambassador to convey his greetings, wishes for good health, and invitation to President Luis Abinader Corona to make an official visit to Vietnam at a convenient time. The State leader believed that, with the affection for Vietnam, the ambassador will continue to act as a bridge between the two nations and make positive contributions to promoting the good relationship between Vietnam and the Dominican Republic, especially in 2025 when the two countries are celebrating 20th founding anniversary of their diplomatic relations (July 7, 2005 - 2025)./.