Talking to the press, the ambassador said since the diplomatic relationship was set up in 1994, this is the first high-ranking visit to Croatia by a senior leader of Vietnam.
The trip from October 9 to 14 aims to affirm that Vietnam treasures the traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Croatia, help to strengthen bilateral ties, and discuss measures for reinforcing economic, trade and investment links and capitalising on the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), she noted.
The diplomat highlighted the development of the two countries’ political and diplomatic relations in the recent past as seen in many delegation exchanges, their Prime Ministers’ meetings within the frameworks of the Asia - Europe Meeting (ASEM) events and United Nations sessions, close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, and contributions of many initiatives to regional and international cooperation mechanisms.
The two sides have also shown their friendship and mutual assistance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Thao said, noting that Croatia donated 60,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Vietnam in October 2021.
She affirmed that the Vice President’s visit is an occasion for Vietnamese and Croatian leaders to affirm their willingness to enhance partnerships between the two countries, as well as between Vietnam and the EU. It is also a chance for the Southeast Asian nation to persuade EU members to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and propose the European Commission to lift the “yellow card” warning against Vietnam’s seafood.
Thao said Croatia is a tourism hub and also a logistics service centre in Europe. Meanwhile, Vietnam, which is strong at light industries such as garment, footwear, aquaculture, agricultural production and processing, and tourism, is completely capable of meeting the Croatian market’s demand.
Bilateral trade has recorded considerable expansion in recent years, with average annual growth of 14% between 2015 and 2021. It topped 116 million USD in 2019, surging 168.5% from 2014, and regained growth momentum after the COVID-19 pandemic to surpass 90 million USD in 2021, including 52.6 million USD of Vietnamese exports - up 4.4% from a year earlier. Trade revenue reached 87.6 million USD in the first eight months of 2022, up 46.2% year on year, with Vietnamese exports up 76% to 58.1 million USD.
The ambassador said the two countries’ leaders will also discuss the possibility of collaboration in such potential areas as navigation, shipbuilding, logistics, clean energy, tourism, and education - training.
She expressed her belief that after this visit, bilateral relations will become even stronger, especially in economy, trade, and investment.
