Hanoi (VNA) – Party GeneralSecretary and President of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and President of ArgentinaMauricio Macri have agreed to intensify the countries’ comprehensivepartnership towards a strategic partnership in the future.

They made the agreement at talks that followedan official welcome ceremony for the Argentine leader in Hanoi on February 20.

General Secretary and President Trong welcomedhis guest’s first State visit to Vietnam as President of Argentina. Hecongratulated Argentina on its recent achievements that have helped consolidateits position as the third biggest economy in Latin America and a member of theG20.

He affirmed that Vietnam always sees Argentinaas a leading Latin American partner and wants to enhance the bilateral comprehensivepartnership, especially in economy, trade and investment.

The host also took this chance to thank theArgentine Government and people for their solidarity with and precious supportfor Vietnam during the struggle for national liberation in the past anddevelopment efforts at present.

President Macri spoke highly of Vietnam’s reformaccomplishments over the last three decades, reiterating that his country isdetermined to strengthen bilateral friendship and cooperation so as tocontribute to each side’s development.

At the talks, the two leaders informed eachother about their respective countries’ situations and discussed measures tocontinue enhancing the comprehensive partnership in a substantive manner. Theyalso exchanged views on regional and international issues of shared concern.

They agreed to maintain high-level meetings andmutual visits at all levels and increase relations between the countries’ parliaments,parties and people.

They highly valued the Vietnam-ArgentinaInter-Governmental Committee and the political consultation between the twoforeign ministries, agreeing to continue bringing into play these mechanisms.

Vietnam and Argentina will promote negotiationson agreements in different fields and work to create a long-term legalframework for bilateral ties, the leaders said.


Highlighting economic links, the Presidentsnoted that bilateral trade reached 2.9 billion USD in 2018, doubling the figurefive years ago. They agreed to further diversify trade to ensure more balancedinterests, increase the trading of products with higher added value, and boostcooperation between animal and plant quarantine agencies.

The leaders also vowed to facilitate dialogueand cooperation between the two business communities through business forumsand trade and investment promotion activities.

They welcomed the opening of the Vietnamese andArgentine markets to some of each other’s fruits, noting that the two sideswill continue discussing the access of their strong products to each other’smarkets.

Both sides will also conduct a feasibility studyon a trade agreement between Vietnam and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR)bloc, of which Argentina is a member.

General Secretary and President Trong andPresident Macri affirmed that the countries will step up experience sharing,technical cooperation and knowledge and technology exchange via cooperationprojects in industry, agriculture, forensic anthropology, and the use of atomicenergy for peaceful purposes. They will also bolster ties in health care,defence, security, culture, sports, tourism and information – communications.

Vietnam and Argentina will reinforcecoordination and mutual support at international organisations and multilateralforums, especially the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the Forumfor East Asia-Latin America Cooperation, and the South-South Cooperation,according to the leaders.

Regarding international and regional issues ofcommon concern, they shared the view that sovereignty and territorial disputesneed to be resolved by peaceful means with respect for international law.

At the talks, President Macri invited GeneralSecretary and President Trong to pay an official visit to Argentina. TheVietnamese leader accepted the invitation with pleasure.

In the presence of the two leaders, officials ofthe two countries signed several cooperation documents, namely an actionprogramme on technical cooperation in the identification of martyrs’ remainsbetween the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and theArgentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship; a cultural exchangeprogramme for 2019-2023 between the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports andTourism and the Argentine Ministry of Education, Culture, Science andTechnology; and a cooperation agreement between Radio the Voice of Vietnam andthe Federal System of Media and Public Content of Argentina.-VNA