They agreed to encourage and create favourable conditions for business communities of both countries to strengthen exchange through experience sharing and partner-matching, with a focus on areas where Vietnam has demand and Portugal holds strength such as shipbuilding, maritime transport, energy, and agriculture.

Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Duong Ngoc Hai on September 25 expressed his hope for stronger tourism cooperation between the southern metropolis and Portugal’s Porto city whose Historic Centre was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Politburo member and standing member of the Party Central Committee's Secretariat Luong Cuong hosted a delegation from the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) led by General Secretary Paulo Raimundo in Hanoi on August 16.

A delegation of the National Assembly (NA) led by its Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man on November 13 engaged in activities to promote the Vietnam-Portugal relations, within the framework of the visit to the European country.

Senior officials of the parliament and government of Portugal have expressed the country’s strong commitment to substantively enhancing relations with Vietnam while meeting with a delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in Lisbon.

Portugal backs the early signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva told Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue during their meeting in Lisbon.