Vietnam and Slovakia upgrade relations to strategic partnership, sign multiple cooperation documents
WVR - On the morning of April 13, at the Government Headquarters, following successful talks, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico witnessed the signing ceremony of cooperation documents between the two countries and held a joint press conference to announce the results of their discussions.
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| Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
At the press conference, on behalf of the Government and the people of Vietnam, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung warmly welcomed Prime Minister Robert Fico and the high-level Slovakian delegation on their official visit to Vietnam.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung stated that the visit of the Slovakian Prime Minister to Vietnam comes at a highly significant time, right after Vietnam has consolidated its high-level leadership. Prime Minister Robert Fico is the first guest that the Prime Minister has received in his capacity as Prime Minister; he is also the first high-level EU leader to visit Vietnam after Vietnam-EU relations were upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
“This is a vivid testament to the personal regard of Prime Minister Robert Fico and the Slovakian Government for Vietnam, reflecting the traditional, close, loyal, sincere, and trustworthy friendship between the two countries,” Prime Minister Le Minh Hung emphasized.
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| Prime Minister Le Minh Hung speaking at the bilateral press conference. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
In an atmosphere of sincerity, trust, and mutual understanding, the two Prime Ministers had a very successful meeting and reached a high level of agreement on many aspects. They approved a Joint Declaration on upgrading Vietnam-Slovakia relations to a Strategic Partnership.
Accordingly, the two Prime Ministers agreed to instruct their respective Foreign Ministries to promptly develop an Action Plan to implement the Vietnam-Slovakia Strategic Partnership framework, aiming to create a qualitative shift in bilateral cooperation, truly bringing tangible benefits to the people and businesses of both countries.
During this visit, ministries, sectors, localities, and enterprises of the two countries signed and exchanged 16 cooperation documents in important fields such as politics-diplomacy, national defense, culture, atomic energy, standards and quality measurement, local cooperation, security, health, tourism, shipbuilding, and more.
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| The two Prime Ministers at the press conference announcing the results of their talks. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung stated that to deepen the Strategic Partnership between the two countries in the coming time, the two Prime Ministers reached a high consensus on effectively promoting groups of solutions regarding: enhancing political trust, mutually supporting each other in enhancing international roles and positions; creating substantive changes in economic-trade-investment cooperation; strengthening defense-security cooperation commensurate with the high level of political trust between the two countries; boosting cooperation in science-technology, innovation, digital transformation; expanding cooperation in education-training, labor, people-to-people exchanges, culture, and tourism.
Providing clear information on specific cooperation programs in various fields, on behalf of the Government and people of Vietnam, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung thanked Slovakia for recognizing the Vietnamese community as the 14th ethnic minority, providing a solid legal foundation for the community to integrate and nurture the friendship between the two countries.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung believes that with the strong political determination of the two Governments, along with the consensus of the business communities and people of both countries, the Vietnam-Slovakia Strategic Partnership will contribute to the prosperity of both nations and positively contribute to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world.
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| Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico speaking at the bilateral press conference. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
Speaking at the press conference, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico thanked the Government and people of Vietnam for their warm reception and highly appreciated the results of the talks between the two sides.
Recalling fond memories from previous visits to Vietnam, the Slovakian Prime Minister congratulated Vietnam on its remarkable development and achievements; he noted that Slovakia closely followed the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and expressed admiration for Vietnam's resolutions and development plans with a focus on shifting from "quantity" to "quality".
According to Prime Minister Robert Fico, both sides have the opportunity to further promote mutually beneficial cooperation, based on the Vietnam-Slovakia Strategic Partnership and the Vietnam-EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Vietnam is not only a friend of Slovakia but also its largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, and Slovakia seeks to increase exports to Vietnam.
Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that during this visit, Slovakia brought a large business delegation and expects that exchanges and forums between businesses from both countries will yield concrete results, contributing to the friendly cooperative relationship between the two nations. “All economic cooperation activities will be supported by the two Governments,” he said.
Expressing delight at Vietnam's implementation of a nuclear power plant project, Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that Slovakia is ready to share its experience and expertise with Vietnam in this field, as well as in the defense industry.
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| Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
He also mentioned that Slovakian people enjoy traveling to Vietnam and expressed appreciation for the visa exemption policy that Vietnam grants to Slovakian tourists. He hopes to soon promote direct flights between Slovakia and Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, thereby boosting tourism further.
In the field of education, both sides can train more experts in nuclear energy and other areas of cooperation; Slovakia hopes to welcome more young Vietnamese to study in Slovakia.
Prime Minister Robert Fico once again expressed his pleasure in visiting Vietnam and hopes to welcome more high-level Vietnamese leaders to Slovakia, including a visit from Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.
Expressing support for Vietnam's stance on international issues, Prime Minister Robert Fico respectfully invited Prime Minister Le Minh Hung to officially visit Slovakia in the near future, while also hoping to increase exchanges of delegations at all levels to promote the ever-growing bilateral cooperative relationship.
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| Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico witnessing the signing of six cooperation documents between the two countries, including the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of National Defense of Vietnam and the Ministry of National Defense of Slovakia on cooperation in the field of defense industry. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
In the presence of Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, ministries, sectors, agencies, and localities of the two countries exchanged six cooperation documents, including: a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of National Defense of Vietnam and the Ministry of National Defense of Slovakia on cooperation in the field of defense industry; a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia;
A Memorandum of Understanding on cultural cooperation for the period 2026-2030 between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam and the Ministry of Culture of Slovakia; a Cooperation Agreement between the People's Committee of Dien Bien Province and the Government of Vysoké Tatry City in the fields of economy-trade-science-technology and culture for the period 2026-2031;
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| Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico witnessing the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia. (Photo: Thanh Long) |
A Memorandum of Understanding between the National Standards and Quality Measurement Committee (STAMEQ) and the Slovak Office of Standards, Metrology, and Testing (UNMS) on cooperation in the fields of standardization, metrology, technical regulations, conformity assessment, accreditation, and quality management; a Memorandum of Understanding between the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute and the Slovak Nuclear Power Plant Research Institute.
