On the afternoon of November 14, within the framework of his official visit to Peru, President Luong Cuong met with Mayor of Lima Rafael Lopez Aliaga.
According to VNA, delighted to lead a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to the beautiful capital Lima for the first time, the President shared that although the visit to Lima was not long, the Vietnamese delegation in general and the President himself in particular were very impressed with the rich history and unique culture of Lima city.
Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga expressed his honor to welcome the President at City Hall, affirming that, like all Peruvians, the people of Lima always cherish the friendship and cooperation with Vietnam.
The mayor said he always felt a close friendship with the country and people of Vietnam, despite the geographical distance, and affirmed his readiness to contribute to promoting cooperative relations with Vietnam and his desire to soon establish a sister city relationship between Lima and a locality of Vietnam.
President Luong Cuong suggested that Lima, as the capital, play a leading role in promoting multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Peru, and asked Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga to create conditions for the Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group to expand its investment in Peru through the Bitel project and participate in digital transformation projects and build a smart city in Lima.
Mayor Lima affirmed his support for Viettel's investment in Peru and said that Lima is aiming to build a smart city, and hopes that in the future there will be many opportunities for the two sides to exchange and learn from each other's experiences in this field. In addition, Mayor Lima expressed his wish to learn from Vietnam's experience and support in implementing projects to build a social security system and an electronic wallet system to provide credit to the poor in the capital.
On this occasion, the Lima City government decided to present President Luong Cuong with the symbolic Key of the Capital Lima and recognized him as an Honored Guest in recognition of his contributions to promoting and strengthening the sustainable, substantive and effective relationship between the two countries; as well as expressing the respect and affection of Lima City for the official visit of the Vietnamese delegation to Peru.
Speaking at the solemn ceremony held right after the private meeting, Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga emphasized that with the presentation of the symbolic Key and recognition of Lima as Guest of Honor, from today, President Luong Cuong will officially become a close friend and friendly brother of Lima and Peru.
Expressing his joy at being awarded the symbolic Key and being recognized as the Guest of Honor of Lima City during his first official visit as President of Vietnam, President Luong Cuong affirmed that this is a very meaningful recognition demonstrating the hospitality and friendliness of the Peruvian people towards the Vietnamese people, especially as this event takes place on the occasion of the two countries celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations (November 14, 1994 - November 14, 2024).
The President emphasized that this key will be a symbol of solidarity, cooperation and connection between Lima city and Vietnam in general and Vietnamese localities in particular, to continue building and nurturing the affection between the people of the two countries, contributing to the development of each country, for peace, cooperation and development in the two regions and in the world.
The President said that this is both an honor and a responsibility in his position to continue promoting and deepening the good relations between Vietnam and Peru in a more substantive, effective and practical direction.
