Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the first day of his 19-21 November visit to the Dominican Republic proposed the two sides negotiate a free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement, as well as agreements on cultural, educational, and training cooperation, and another on ordinary visa exemption.
PM Chinh visited with his wife, Le Thi Bich Tran, accepting an invitation made by President Luis Abinader.
On Wednesday, 20 November, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chinh together with President Luis Abinader attended the signing of several memorandum of understandings. Among these was one establishing the Viet Nam – Dominican Republic Joint Committee to promote trade and investment. Another is the Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation between the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and the Diplomatic and Consular Academy of the Dominican Republic.
PM Chinh and President Abinader back efforts to enhance trade and investment promotion activities, connect businesses, and facilitate market access for each country’s strong export items, while also using each country as a gateway to access the markets of the Southeast Asian and Latin America-Caribbean regions.
The two leaders had talks and discussions to expand cooperation agreements and at the same time, promote new agreements and cooperation between the two countries in fields such as defense, telecommunications, oil and gas, tourism and other fields with potential and needs of both sides for the benefit of both countries and their people.
The Vietnam press reported on how PM Chinh thanked President Abinader for his respectful, sincere, and thoughtful welcome and believed that his visit to the Dominican Republic this time is historic, creating new momentum and opening a new page in Vietnam – Dominican Republic relations.
Recalling the event that President Ho Chi Minh met with revolutionary, Professor Juan Bosch, the first President of the Dominican Republic to visit Vietnam, when he came to Hanoi to attend a major conference of Latin American countries to unite with Vietnam in 1965, PM Chinh said that Vietnam and the Dominican Republic had many similarities: similar ideals, all for national independence, happiness, and prosperity of the people.
The two leaders affirmed their commitments to promoting multilateralism, enhancing cooperation, and supporting each other in international organizations and multilateral forums of which both are members, such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Non-Aligned Movement, the South-South cooperation framework, and the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), for the benefit of the people of both countries and to contribute to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in both regions and the world.
Following the talks, the two leaders chaired a joint press conference and announced the Vietnam-Dominican Republic Joint Declaration, reaffirming the determination of both governments and outlining the directions and measures agreed upon to further strengthen the solidarity, friendship, and cooperation between the two countries in the future.
As reported, PM Chinh conveyed the regards from Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and their invitations to President Abinader to visit Vietnam in 2025 on the occasion of the 20th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties to further elevate the bilateral ties based on the strong current foundation. The President accepted the invitations with pleasure, with the visit’s exact timing to be coordinated through diplomatic channels.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had separate meetings with Senate president Ricardo de los Santos Polanco and Chamber of Deputies president Alfredo Pacheco in Santo Domingo on 20 November, as part of the Vietnamese leader’s official visit to the Caribbean country.
Over the past two decades, the bilateral ties have blossomed across various sectors, including politics, diplomacy, trade, agriculture, culture and sci-tech. Significant milestones include the appointment of the Dominican Republic’s first resident ambassador to Vietnam in October 2021 and the inauguration of its Embassy in Hanoi in February 2023.
Although the trade partnership currently represents a modest portion of each country’s overall trade volume, it has seen remarkable growth. Two-way trade surged from US$36.5 million in 2013 to nearly US$150.2 million in 2022, with expectations for continued expansion.
Read more:
Presidency
Ministry of Foreign Relations
Ministry of Foreign Relations
Hoy
El Dia
NHandan
Vietnam Law Magazine
Prensa Latina
Vietnam Plus
Vietnam Plus
DR1 News
21 November 2024