Brasilia (VNA) – Vice Minister ofForeign Affairs of Brazil, Ambassador Reinaldo de Almeida Salgado, has affirmedthe Brazilian government’s commitments to continuously prioritising thedevelopment of relations with Vietnam.

He made the affirmation while attending a ceremony held in Brasilia by theEmbassy of Vietnam in Brazil to mark the 30th anniversary of the diplomaticrelations between the two countries (May 8, 1989).

At the function, Ambassador Do Ba Khoahighlighted important milestones since Vietnam and Brazil set up diplomaticties in 1989 and comprehensive partnership in 2007.

The political trust and mutual understandingbetween the two countries’ leaders and peoples over the past 30 years have beensignificantly increased through exchanges of hundreds of all-level delegations,including many at high level and ministerial level, he said.

The mutual trust and political determinationhave facilitated the reinforcement of the legal framework for bilateralcooperation via the signing and implementation of 16 agreements and protocolson cooperation in various fields such as science-technology, maritimetransport, civil aviation, agriculture, health care, trade, tourism, Statediplomacy, people-to-people external affairs, and locality-to-localitycooperation, he added.

The relationship between the two countries’parliaments, friendship parliamentary groups, and friendship associations hascontributed to the expansion of the bilateral cooperation, according to theambassador.

He added that the operation of the JointCommittee between the two governments and the political consultation betweenthe two foreign ministries have helped enhance the understanding of mutualneeds, promote their support for socio-economic development in the respectivecountries, and increase their position at regional and internationalorganisations.

The ambassador described trade exchange as aspotlight in the bilateral relations. Two-way trade increased to 4.51 billionUSD in 2018 from 29 million USD in 2001. Within eight years from 2010 to 2018,the bilateral trade increased over four times and Vietnam became the mostimportant partner of Brazil among ASEAN member nations.

He affirmed that Vietnam will spare no effort tofurther deepen its cooperative ties with Brazil – a leading important partnerof the Southeast Asian country in South America, while expandingVietnam-Mercosul (Southern Common Market) and ASEAN-Mercosul regionalcooperation.

For his part, Vice Minister of Foreign AffairsReinaldo de Almeida Salgado praised the long-standing relations and friendshipbetween Vietnam and Brazil, affirming that the establishment of diplomatic tieswith Vietnam 30 years ago was an important milestone and a right decision ofthe Brazilian government.

Over the past years, the two countries’governments have worked to promote the bilateral relations in all fields andactively cooperate and support each other at multilateral forums, he said.

The two sides also held regular delegationexchanges at all levels and worked together for mutual benefits as well as stepup cooperation between their parliaments, friendship parliamentary groups andpeoples, he added.

In recent years, Vietnam has become the fifthbiggest trade partner of Brazil in Asia, he noted.

The current reforms in Brazil and the “Doi Moi”(reform) in Vietnam will help promote the bilateral affiliation across theboard, he said.-VNA