Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Prime Minister PhamMinh Chinh’s upcoming visit to Romania is expected to mark a milestone in the bilateral cooperative relations, helping to enhance understandingof each other’s priorities and interests, Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam CristinaRomila has said.

Talking to the press, the ambassador held that the visit will continue to promotebilateral dialogue at the Prime Minister level, underlining that it will be ahighlight of close ties between the two countries' people, which has been thefoundation for the bilateral relationship over the past 74 years.

The visit will prompt new progress in the implementation ofjoint projects and the building of bilateral legal cooperation frameworks, shesaid.

The diplomat underscored that that the fruitful cooperationbetween the two countries over the past five years has affirmed the deep friendshipbetween Vietnam and Romania. The two sides joined hands insetting major challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and made joint effortsto evacuate more than 1,000 Vietnamese citizens from conflict areas in Ukraine.

Romilanoted that along with meetings between Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannisand Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh on the sidelines of international events, the bilateral political-diplomatic relations have seen new progress.

Particularly, when Romania held the Presidency of the European Council, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and EU-VietnamInvestment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) were signed, she said, adding thatRomania was one of the first EU members to ratify the IVIPA.

At the same time, people-to-people diplomacy between the twocountries has been promoted after the COVID-19 pandemic, along with cultural,academic and business exchanges. Representatives from 30 Romanian universities have visited Vietnam over the past two years. The Romanian Bucharest SymphonyOrchestra performed in Hanoi and Da Lat in 2022 and 2023. A number of Romanianbusiness delegations also visited Vietnam to seek partnership opportunities,helping to diversify bilateral economic cooperation, the diplomat noted.

Regarding major collaboration areas and priorities for the bilateral partnership in the coming time, the ambassador underlined that the 17th meeting of the Vietnam-Romania Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation lastNovember achieved fruitful results. The two sides agreed on important cooperation mechanisms inareas of mutual interest such as trade, agriculture, sanitation, energy,labour, science, technology and culture, she said.

Romania can become a gateway for Vietnamese goods to penetrate into Europe, whileVietnam can support Romania to enter the ASEAN market, the ambassador said.

She stressed the need for the two sides to optimise theefficiency of the EVFTA to further open the doors for each other and draw moreinvestment in areas of shared interest./.