Vietnamese President hails Polish Ambassador’s contributions to bilateral ties

On June 21, President Tran Dai Quang received outgoing Polish Ambassador to Vietnam Barbara Szymanowska in Hanoi during which, he highlighted the diplomat as one of the contributory factors to the stronger traditional friendship and cooperation between the two nations.

He expressed his hope that with her experience and knowledge about Vietnam, Szymanowska, in any position, will continue helping boost the two countries’ friendship and result-oriented cooperation. Quang showed his delight at the growing bilateral ties that date back almost seven decades ago as evidenced by State visit to Vietnam by Polish President Andrzej Duda in November 2017.

He told his guest that he hopes bilateral relations will be more substantive by intensifying mutual high-level visits and developing economic, trade and investment ties on a par with the fine political relationship. He also called for broader connections between the countries’ sectors, localities and people.

The Vietnamese State leader welcomed the opening of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency’s office in HCM City, adding that both sides should work together to find suitable projects to effectively disburse the preferential credit package worth 250 million EUR committed during the Vietnam visit by Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Economic, trade and investment partnerships have achieved remarkable progress over recent years. Poland is currently the biggest trade partner of Vietnam in East-Central Europe with two-way trade hit a whopping US$1 billion last year. Its investment in the Southeast Asian nation doubled between 2014 and 2017 to reach beyond US$182 million.

The President also greatly valued the two nations’ effective coordination at multilateral forums and thanked Poland for supporting Vietnam’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2020 – 2021.

He asked Poland to continue backing Vietnam’s all-around partnership and cooperation with the EU, including the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The leader also attached a high value on Poland’s support for the Vietnamese community in the country and hoped that it will continue offering favourable conditions for Vietnamese people to integrate into local society as a way of strengthening bilateral ties.

For her part, Ambassador Szymanowska said the biggest success in her four-year term is the organisation of the Polish President’s trip to Vietnam, hoping that President Quang will soon visit Poland next year.

She urged both nations to further enhance economic, trade and investment ties, saying the opening of a representative office of the Polish Investment and Trade Agency in Ho Chi Minh City also aims to solidify bilateral cooperation in these realms.

Poland believes that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will come into force soon in order to deliver benefits to the two countries as well as other EU nations, the diplomat said.

She said as the number of Polish tourists to Vietnam is seeing an upswing, Poland hopes that its citizens will enjoy visa waiver when visiting Vietnam. It also desire to expand cooperation in education and training as Vietnamese people who have studied in Poland are seen as a bridge connecting the countries in multiple field, Szymanowska added.