In the afternoon of July 17, at the Government Headquarters, Politburo Member, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung received Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic George Gerapetritis, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed.
Welcoming the visit of Minister George Gerapetritis, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung expressed his belief that the visit will contribute to further deepening the traditional friendly relations between Vietnam and Greece, and at the same time promote the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and the European Union (EU). The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam always values relations with Greece, Vietnam's traditional partner.
Assessing that the relationship between the two countries still has much room for development, the Prime Minister requested the two sides to strengthen delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels, especially at high levels; promote the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms and promote economic, trade, investment cooperation, effectively exploit EVFTA, strengthen business connections and expand cooperation in areas where Greece has strengths such as marine economy, seaports, sea transport, logistics, shipbuilding, marine human resource training, renewable energy, science and technology... The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam is ready to create favorable conditions for Greek businesses to come to explore the market and invest long-term in Vietnam.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung requested Greece to continue to have a positive voice to promote the remaining EU member countries to soon ratify the Vietnam - EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), and at the same time support the European Commission to soon remove the IUU "yellow card" for Vietnamese seafood; requested the two sides to soon complete the legal framework for cooperation, including documents and agreements on sea transport, labor, economy... ; strengthen cooperation in the fields of culture, education, heritage conservation, people-to-people exchanges, local connection, and research to open a direct Vietnam - Greece air route. On this occasion, the Prime Minister requested Greece to create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Greece, promoting the role of a bridge between the two countries.
Minister George Gerapetritis highly appreciated Vietnam's impressive development achievements, Vietnam's increasingly important role in ASEAN as well as the progress in Vietnam - EU relations; affirmed that Greece highly values relations with Vietnam and is ready to be a bridge to promote relations between Vietnam and the EU.
Agreeing with the opinions of Prime Minister Le Minh Hung, Minister George Gerapetritis affirmed that Greece wishes to expand cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of trade, investment, maritime, logistics, crew training, agriculture, tourism and pharmaceuticals... ; announced that it will send a delegation of businesses to Vietnam to seek cooperation and investment opportunities.
The Minister also expressed his desire for the two sides to promote labor cooperation, strengthen student exchanges, cultural and archaeological cooperation; and affirmed that Greece supports EVIPA, the early removal of the IUU "yellow card"; supports the EU to soon remove Vietnam from the List of non-cooperative jurisdictions on taxation.
