Sofia (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Truong HoaBinh held talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Tomislav Donchev on September 30as part of his ongoing visit to Bulgaria.

The two sides briefed each other on the situation in eachcountry and discussed regional and international issues of shared concern.

They noted that the Vietnam-Bulgaria economic-tradecooperation has seen progress over the years, but has yet to match theirpotential. Two-way trade has reached only about 100 million USD per year.  

In order to improve the partnership, they agreed to hold the24th meeting of the Vietnam-Bulgaria Inter-Governmental Committee on economiccooperation soon, while strengthening trade and investment promotionactivities, encouraging and creating optimal conditions for businesses of bothsides to seek partners, especially in areas of Bulgaria’s strength andVietnam’s demand such as agriculture, pharmaceuticalchemistry and IT.

Binh thanked thepeople and Government of Bulgaria for supporting Vietnam during the paststruggle for independence and current national construction and development,affirming that Vietnam always attaches great importance to developingfriendship and all-round cooperation with traditional friends in central andeastern Europe, including Bulgaria.

He highly valuedthe growth in traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between thetwo countries, especially in politics with the regular exchange of delegations,including many high-level ones.

On the occasion,the Vietnamese Deputy PM conveyed invitations from Vietnamese leaders toBulgarian leaders to visit Vietnam on the occasion of the 70th anniversary ofbilateral diplomatic relations in 2020.

For his part, BulgarianDeputy PM Donchev showed his admiration for the achievements that Vietnam hasgained over the years, especially high economic growth and stable social welfareas well as rising international and regional position.

He affirmed hiscountry’s support to strengthening the relations between Vietnam and theEuropean Union, including the early signing and ratification of the EU-VietnamFree Trade Agreement and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement.

He lauded theefforts and contributions of the Vietnamese community in Bulgaria to the hostcountry’s growth and the development of ties between the two countries.

He described thenumber of nearly 4,000 Vietnamese people who used to work and study in Bulgariaas an important basis for the development of bilateral friendship and all-roundcooperation.

The two sidesconcurred to further strengthen cooperation in culture, tourism,science-technology, labour, security and defence, while speeding up the signingof agreement on education collaboration in the 2019-2022 period.

At the talks, Binh thanked Bulgaria for supporting Vietnamto run for the position of non-permanent member of the UN Security Council inthe 2020-2021 tenure.

They pledged to continue cooperating with and supportingeach other at multilateral forums and international organisations.

Regarding the East Sea issue, the two Deputy PMs underlinedthe significance of maintaining peace, stability, maritime and aviation in theregion, the need to solve disputes by peaceful means and respect forinternational law, especially the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982(UNCLOS).

Earlier the same day, Deputy PM Binh met President of Bulgaria's Supreme Court of Lozan Panov, during which heaffirmed that Vietnam wishes to learn Bulgaria’s experience in personneltraining and court reform, thus enhancing the efficiency of court activities inVietnam.

Both sides agreed that authorised agencies of the two sidesshould work more closely in judicial and administrative reform as well as lawbuilding.

Binh conveyed the Chief Judge of the Vietnam’s invitation toPresident of the Supreme People’s Court Panov to visit Vietnam.

Panov held that Vietnam and Bulgaria have great potentialfor cooperation, especially in court activities, organised and hi-tech crimeprevention and combat./.