Vietnam and Bulgaria strengthen cooperation in environment, sports, and youth: Ambassador
WVR - Recently, Ambassador Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet met with a number of Ministers from Bulgaria's Socialist Party (BSP) in the Government, including Minister of Environment and Water Manol Genov, Minister of Youth and Sports Ivan Peshev, and Minister of Labour and Social Policy Borislav Gutsanov.
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| Ambassador Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet and Minister of Youth and Sports Ivan Peshev. (Photo: Embassy of Vietnam in Bulgaria) |
During the meetings, Ambassador Minh Nguyet affirmed the commitment to enhance cooperative relations between the two countries across all sectors.
In the environmental sector, the Ambassador proposed establishing an official cooperation mechanism between Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and Bulgaria's Ministry of Environment and Water. This includes organizing delegation exchanges to share experiences, cooperating in technology transfer for wastewater treatment, water reuse, solid and plastic waste management, air pollution control, renewable energy development, and efficient energy use. She also suggested exchanging experts and conducting joint research in biodiversity conservation and resource management. Additionally, she urged Bulgaria to advocate for EU technical and financial support for Vietnam in developing a circular economy, blue economy, marine conservation, sustainable forest management, and biodiversity conservation.
In the sports sector, Ambassador Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet congratulated Bulgaria on its outstanding sports achievements in July 2025, including winning the Wimbledon Junior Tennis Championship, the U19 Women's Volleyball World Championship, and leading the Balkan Gymnastics Championship rankings.
The Ambassador proposed promoting cooperation in sports training, coaching, and scientific research between universities and training centers of the two countries. She emphasized strengthening cooperation between Olympic Committees and creating mechanisms for Vietnam to send sports teams to Bulgaria for training, especially in disciplines where Bulgaria excels. She also suggested introducing Bulgarian experts to support Vietnam in enhancing achievements in certain sports and organizing annual delegation exchanges to share competition experiences.
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| Ambassador Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet meets with Minister of Environment and Water Manol Genov. (Photo: Embassy of Vietnam in Bulgaria) |
Meanwhile, Minister of Environment and Water Manol Genov highly valued the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Bulgaria. He shared memorable experiences with the generation of Vietnamese who lived, studied, and worked in Bulgaria during the 1990s.
He emphasized the need to establish a cooperation mechanism between the two Ministries and professional working levels soon. He expressed readiness for dialogue, cooperation, and exchanges in knowledge, technology, expertise, and scholarships in areas where Bulgaria has experience, such as energy security protection, biodiversity, atmosphere, disaster prevention, and forest fire management. He expressed a desire to learn from Vietnam's experience in marine and ocean economy development and affirmed that Vietnam can fully trust Bulgaria's support in cooperation frameworks with the EU.
Minister of Youth and Sports Ivan Peshev stated that with a long-standing tradition of cooperation, the two countries can enhance experience exchange in the youth and sports sectors. He introduced Bulgaria's numerous sports training centers, notably the National Sports Academy of Bulgaria (NSA, established in 1942), which spans 20 hectares and offers training in 63 sports. Bulgaria is currently developing a national strategy for physical education to promote public sports and improve community health.
Minister Ivan Peshev proposed that both sides consider exchanging delegations at various levels and sharing experiences. He also affirmed Bulgaria's readiness to support training coaches and athletes for Vietnam in sports where Bulgaria has strengths.
Deputy Minister in charge of youth policy, Petar Mladenov, shared that Bulgaria is currently cooperating effectively with Asian countries in the youth sector, notably through a youth and young intellectual exchange program with Republic of Korea initiated in 2013.
He noted that Bulgaria has many youth centers nationwide, ready to coordinate international activities. Besides bilateral cooperation, both sides can also promote collaboration through international programs, including the EU's Erasmus program.
(Source: Embassy of Vietnam in Bulgaria)
