Hanoi (VNA) – Argentinian Ambassador to Vietnam Luis Pablo Maria Beltramino has highlighted the significance of the upcoming official visit to Argentina by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, stressing that it will contribute to further deepening diplomatic relations and cooperation between the two countries in all areas.

In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Luis Pablo said 2023 marks the 50th founding anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 26 years since Argentina and Vietnam opened embassies in respective capital cities.

The Vietnamese top legislator’s visit will reflect existing areas of cooperation that both sides are striving to strengthen, as well as help promote collaboration in new areas, he stated.

In addition to strengthening existing areas of cooperation, the two sides are expected to sign agreements on various fields such as justice; and peaceful use of outer space for satellite services and commerce, the ambassador said, adding that there will also be ministerial-level meetings on science and technology, trade, agriculture, and diplomacy to discuss the bilateral agenda.

The two sides will also discuss and determine future cooperation orientations in some other fields, he noted.

Basically, political dialogue is an important high-level dialogue to make decisions on the future goals of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, but most of all, the two sides are striving to expand bilateral trade relations, Luis Pablo stressed.

According to the diplomat, the two countries witnessed strong development of bilateral trade ties, with a sustainable growth of 700% over the last decade. Vietnam ranked between 5th to 8th in the list of trading partners of Argentina, which was the third biggest trade partner of Vietnam in Latin America. Two-way trade has hit 5 billion USD and will continue to grow.

Explaining the complementary economic relationship between Argentina and Vietnam, Luis Pablo said about 90% of Argentina's exports to Vietnam are agricultural and industrial products, noting that this shows the importance of the agricultural and industrial cooperation strategy between the two nations.

Vietnam also imports other products from Argentina, including beef and wine. Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian nation mainly exports electronics, mobile phones, and other products that the Argentinian market requires.

Regarding the legislative cooperation, the diplomat emphasised the tradition of cooperation and dialogue between the Vietnamese and Argentinian legislatures, saying that they have maintained meetings and delegation exchanges in recent times.

During the visit, NA Chairman Hue will have meetings with the Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of Argentina, and sign a cooperation agreement to establish a legal framework for cooperation between the two parliaments, he said.

According to the diplomat, Argentina has cooperated with the Vietnamese NA in law-making. During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese legislature donated 20,000 masks to Argentina, while the Argentinian side also provided 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Southeast Asian nation.

In the time to come, the two parliaments will organise dialogues and sign cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding towards deepening the bilateral relationship, he said, adding that they have set up their respective friendship parliamentarians' groups.

Regarding priority cooperation areas, Luis Pablo stressed that collaboration must be carried out in both government-to-government and the people-to-people channels to achieve comprehensive cooperation.

Both sides want to expand trade cooperation as this contributes to socio-economic development in the two nations, he noted, underlining the need to enhance cooperation in sports, culture, science, technology and education. Highlighting the importance of technical cooperation, the diplomat said that the two sides will continue to work closely in the coming time, especially industry and agriculture./.