Deputy PM and FM Pham Binh Minh (R) holds talks with Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship Jorge Faurie in Hanoi on July 30. (Photo: VGP)

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The two sides showed their delight at the growth of Vietnam-Argentina cooperation over the past 45 years across all fields, with strengthened political ties and trust through visits and meetings between their senior leaders.

Bilateral trade increased to over US$3 billion in 2017, 10 times higher than the figure from a decade ago.

FM Minh thanked the Argentine side for supporting Vietnam’s candidacy as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure.

He lauded Argentina’s signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), while asking the Latin American country to promptly finalise procedures to open its market for Vietnamese fruits such as lychee, dragon fruit, longan, and mango.

Argentine FM Faurie affirmed that Argentina considers Vietnam an important partner in the Southeast Asian region, while also lauding the role and position of Vietnam in the region and the world.

He said his country is keen to expand friendship and all-round cooperation with Vietnam, especially in economy, trade, and technology, thus creating optimal conditions for closer links among businesses of both sides and balancing bilateral trade.

Both sides agreed to continue maintaining and increasing the exchange of high-level visits and among ministries and sectors, while effectively implementing the mechanisms of Inter-Governmental Committee and Political Consultation at the deputy foreign ministerial level.

The two countries will push the negotiations, signing, and implementation of specific cooperation programmes in the fields of agriculture, pharmaceuticals, processing and manufacturing industry, information and technology, biotechnology, security and defence, and tourism.

Vietnam and Argentina will also continue to work closely together and support each other at international organisations and multilateral forums.

At the talks, the two sides also discussed regional and international issues of shared concern, including matters relating to the East Sea.

The same day, Faurie, who is on her first visit to Vietnam from July 28-31, had working sessions with Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh and Head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Hoang Binh Quan. He and leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also co-chaired a regional conference on technology cooperation in agriculture and industry in Hanoi.