President’s Austria visit to help boost bilateral cooperation, multilateral diplomacy

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son (L) and his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg.

President Vo Van Thuong’s upcoming official visit to Austria will help promote bilateral cooperation and multilateral diplomacy, Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Trung Kien has said.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s correspondents in Europe, Kien said that this trip is an opportunity for the two countries to enhance their well developing relations, and also a chance for the Vietnamese State leader to work with representatives from multilateral diplomatic forums, thereby helping affirm Vietnam’s position and role in the international arena.

Within the framework of the visit, President Thuong will attend an official welcome ceremony and hold talks with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen, meet with President of the Federal Council Claudia Arpa, and have working sessions with the Mayors of Vienna and Burgenland states.

In addition, the Vietnamese President will have meetings and working sessions with representatives of international organisations, including the Acting Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). With these meetings, President Thuong will affirm the Party and State’s priorities in collaboration with multilateral international organisations.

He is also scheduled to have meetings with representatives of the Vietnamese communities in Austria and several European countries.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Trung Kien.

Regarding bilateral relations, Kien said that the relationship between Vietnam and Austria is one of the important relations in Vietnam's ties with Europe. In 1972, Austria was one of the first European nations to set up diplomatic relations with Vietnam. Since then, the two countries have deepened their cooperation in all fields, from politics to economy, trade, investment, culture and education.

Austria is always among Vietnam’s top 10 trading partners in the EU, with two-way trade reaching nearly 4 billion USD before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Since the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, the turnover has improved remarkably. However, Austria’s investment in Vietnam remains modest. Austria currently ranks 41st out of 108 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 43 valid projects totaling 148.59 million USD.

The diplomat affirmed that there remains ample room to further boost the bilateral cooperation, particularly in economy, trade and investment.

According to the ambassador, one of the important areas in Vietnam’s relations with Austria is cooperation in science – technology, which is the European country’s strength. Science - technology will help Vietnam develop manufacturing industries, while Austria also sees Vietnam as a centre for production development, in addition to being an emerging market in Asia./.