Photo for illustration (Source: Internet)
With the foundation of bilateral diplomatic ties in 1950, Romania was one of the first 10 countries to establish the relationship with Vietnam. Since then, their traditional friendship has continually been reinforced.
The Vietnamese people have always kept in mind the support from the people and Government of Romania during the struggle for national independence and liberation in the past, as well as development efforts at present.
The two countries have actively supported each other at multilateral forums like the United Nations, the International Organisation of the Francophonie, and the Asia-Europe Meeting. While Romania, which holds the rotating Presidency of the European Union (EU) in the first half of 2019, is hoped to be a bridge helping to enhance Vietnam’s connections with EU members, Vietnam is set to make efforts to boost relations between Romania and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Chargé d’affaires of the Romanian Embassy in Vietnam Emil Ghitulescu said Vietnam is a traditional and important partner of his country in Southeast Asia.
The two sides are looking to increase trade partnership; promote the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to boost bilateral cooperation; step up export certification procedures for Romania’s animal-related products like beef, pork, poultry, animal food and bee honey to Vietnam; and develop locality-to-locality ties, he noted.
Since 1990, the countries have signed many documents, creating the legal framework for their cooperation in the new period.
Notably, they inked an agreement on economic cooperation in 2009. As a result, bilateral trade has risen continually in recent years, reaching USD217 million in 2017 and over USD218 million in 2018. The figure was estimated at USD41.6 million in the first two months of 2019.
Vietnam’s key exports to Romania include coffee, seafood, pepper, textile-garment, leather shoes, and computer components. Meanwhile, Romania’s main products shipped to Vietnam are chemicals, fertilisers, construction steel, plastic beads, oil and gas drilling equipment, and wood products.
Since 2010, Romania has been among the large markets of Vietnam’s aquatic products when it has imported around 12,000 tonnes of those items annually. As of the end of 2017, it had directly invested in three projects worth USD2.1 million in the Southeast Asian nation.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Romania Dang Tran Phong said the countries boast cooperation potential in multiple spheres, adding that as the two economies are developing dynamically and the EU-Vietnam partnership is growing, they have many favourable conditions to expand ties in trade, energy, agriculture, processing industry, information technology, science-technology, and environmental protection.
Additionally, the signing and implementation of cooperation programmes on education-training, culture, and science-technique, along with people-to-people exchange have also been greatly helping with bilateral links.
Stronger relations between Vietnamese and Romanian localities have also been recorded as seen through cooperation deals between Hanoi and Bucharest capitals, Da Nang and Timisoara cities, Lao Cai province and Hunedoara county, Iasi and Hue cities, and Ben Tre province and Tulcea county.
The official trip by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the invitation of his counterpart Viorica Dancila will continue affirming Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of treasuring and fostering the traditional friendship and cooperation in a more result-oriented manner for the sake of each nation./.