Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam Cristina Romila (Photo: Romanian Embassy in Vietnam)
Reporter: The traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Romania have been fostered over the past 70 years. Would you please share how the multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and has been effectively implemented in 2021?
Ambassador Cristina Romila: The past seven decades are remarkable witnesses for the way generations of Romanian and Vietnamese people tirelessly took further the traditional friendship, based on mutual understanding and trust.
The comprehensive cooperation between Romania and Vietnam has reached new momentum in July 2021 with the phone talks held at presidential level. On this occasion, President Klaus Iohannis and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc discussed various means to deepen and diversify the bilateral relations and agreed to maintain and promote exchange mechanisms and cooperation in fields of main interest, such as economy and trade, education and training, among others.
As unconditional supporters of multilateralism and of the rule-based international order, Romania and Vietnam actively coordinate and support each other in international forums. The bilateral meeting held between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Mr. Bogdan Aurescu and his Vietnamese counterpart, on the margins of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, was an excellent opportunity to address major topics on the bilateral and multilateral agenda.
Romania was also a strong supporter of taking the bilateral cooperation between the EU and Vietnam to a new level to pragmatically reflect both sides’ objectives of mutual interest. The signing of the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) in June 2019 is one of the major successes of the EU commercial policy reached during the Romanian Presidency of EU Council.
Based on this framework of cooperation, Romania and Vietnam held in 2021 the first meeting of the bilateral group for trade and investments, as an institutional instrument to assess the current status quo of the economic cooperation.
Education has always been a major objective of mutual interest for Romania and Vietnam. Thousands of Vietnamese students graduated from prestigious Universities in Romania all along the years, taking further the people-to-people contacts that have been the very fundament to our relationship. I look with confidence to the future of the bilateral cooperation in the field of education, given its strong longstanding roots.
Reporter: What are your assessments of the cooperation between Vietnam – Romania in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic?
Ambassador Cristina Romila: In the fight against the pandemic, the concerted efforts brought our countries even closer to each other. On the foundation of the two countries’ solid friendship, Romania responded last year to the urgent needs of containing the pandemic in Vietnam and donated 300,000 doses of Astra Zeneca vaccines that were flown directly to Ho Chi Minh City by TAROM, the Romanian national aviation company.
For us, acting in solidarity with Vietnam, was a natural gesture, deriving from the special nature of the bilateral relationship between the two countries, and from Romania’s capacity, as an EU member state, and a responsible member of the international community.
I heartily appreciated Vietnam’s donation of facemasks for Romania when the pandemic broke out in early 2020. This was a noble gesture of affection and solidarity with the Romanian people.
I would like to seize the opportunity of this interview to express my personal appreciation for the highly successful vaccine diplomacy initiated by the Government of Vietnam in 2021. Its positive effects are visible and Vietnam finds itself in a consolidated position, as one of the countries with highest vaccination rates in the world.
Reporter: What are your assessments of the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Europe - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA)?
Ambassador Cristina Romila: I strongly believe that the signing of both the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Europe - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) represent a milestone for Vietnam - EU trade and investment relations.
We are proud that the two Agreements were signed during the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council in 2019, and the Romanian side actively supported reaching this objective at the level of the European institutions. We consider this one of the important achievements of our mandate and also a reflection of the traditional relations between Romania and Vietnam.
The direct benefits of the EVFTA are undeniable, taking into consideration, most of all, the tariff cuts applied by both sides. Despite the pandemic context, the two-way bilateral trade between the EU and Vietnam registered positive developments.
Against this background, we can obviously assess the benefits of EVFTA also on the bilateral side of the relations between Romania and Vietnam. According to the Romanian statistics, the bilateral trade recorded important growth in the first ten months of 2021, by comparison to the previous year, namely 33%, totaling 295 million USD.
Romanian Ambassador Cristina Romila in traditional long dress of Vietnam (Ao Dai) at Happy Tet 2022 program in Duong Lam ancient village (Photo: Romanian Embassy in Vietnam)
Reporter: Could you share your impression on the country and the people of Vietnam since you took the role of Romanian Ambassador to our country?
Ambassador Cristina Romila: I began my mandate as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to Vietnam in April 2021. Because of the pandemic conditions, I have been unable to explore as much of Vietnam as I wished in order to learn more about its friendly people.
Since my arrival, I took my chance to fully integrate in the vibrant Hanoi, which will be my home for the next years. This way, I discovered a rich architectural patrimony, unique gastronomy, a lively and cosmopolitan society, and hardworking people, so proud of their country.
Reporter: In 2022, what will you do to contribute to promoting bilateral relations between Vietnam and Romania during your term as the Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam which is considered as a bridge of the two countries’ friendship?
Ambassador Cristina Romila: I feel privileged to serve as Ambassador of Romania to Vietnam and I am confident that through joint efforts, 2022 will bring about a renewed dynamics of the political and diplomatic agenda, as well as of the economic, educational and culture relations between our countries.
I am optimistic that the pandemic conditions will improve, making possible the return to the previous commitments.
Reporter: Thanks so much!