Bucharest (VNA) – A workshop on the Vietnam - Romania diplomaticrelations was organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in Romania and the Centre forIndochina Studies in Bucharest on October 8.

It is part of the programme to celebrate the 70th anniversary of thebilateral diplomatic relations.

Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Tran Phong laid stress on the sound friendship andtraditional cooperation between the two countries in the past seven decades,with collaboration having unceasingly been deepened across the fields ofpolitical dialogue, foreign affairs, security and defence, trade, agricultureand industry, labour and tourism, education and training.

Vietnam and Romania have witnessed significant developments in their relations,illustrated through the official visits of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in2019 and former Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Jullien Ciolos in 2016, manyhigh-level visits in 2018 and 2019, and the first ministerial meeting of theVietnam – Romania Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation in Bucharest lastyear.

Phong said several Memoranda of Understanding and cooperation programmes onlabour, culture, agriculture, education-training, and science-technology wereinked between the two countries, helping boost exchanges of trade, tourism,workers and students during 2016-2019.

Thanks to the positive and effective support of Romania as rotating Presidentof the Council of the European Union in 2019, the Vietnam - EU Free TradeAgreement (EVFTA) and the EU – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA)were approved and took effect soon, bringing new opportunities and benefits to bothsides.

In this context, the all-round cooperation and traditional friendship betweenthe two countries have contributed greatly to the EU – Vietnam relations inparticular, and the EU – ASEAN ties as a whole, he added.

Based on the time-tested relationship and mutual trust, Vietnam-Romania cooperationin trade, construction, industry, agriculture, education and training, scienceand IT, environment, labour, culture and tourism will be definitely elevated toa new high, Phong affirmed.

Discussions at the workshop sharpened focus on the bilateral friendship as wellas potential for further collaboration, especially in economy, trade andinvestment after the EVFTA came into force.

Participants also outlined measures to remove bottlenecks in trade exchange,labour supply, and agricultural cooperation in the time ahead./.