On April 13, at the Government Headquarters, after a solemn official welcoming ceremony for Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's official visit to Vietnam, Politburo Member, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Prime Minister Robert Fico held talks.
The two Prime Ministers were pleased to see that cooperation between the two countries in the past time has developed strongly in all fields, especially politics - diplomacy has been strengthened, there is high political trust, the two sides regularly conduct delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels, especially at high levels; agreed to continue to promote on all channels of the Party, State, National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges and effectively implement the results of visits.
At the same time, the two sides agreed to improve the effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms between the two countries, in which it is necessary to resume the mechanism of meeting the Vietnam - Slovakia Intergovernmental Committee on economic cooperation; maintain regular meetings of Deputy Foreign Ministers' Political Consultations.
Regarding economy - trade and investment, the two leaders were pleased that the two-way turnover in 2025 reached about 1.78 billion USD but is still modest, not commensurate with the potential and desires of the two sides; agreed to identify this as a key pillar and will continue to coordinate to double bilateral trade turnover in the coming time, in which the two sides need to maximize their position as the gateway of Slovakia and Vietnam in accessing the EU and ASEAN markets; agreed to create preferential conditions for businesses of the two countries to penetrate each other's markets, especially in the fields of information technology, telecommunications, network security, and automotive industry, focusing on "sea lighthouse" projects in each country, the clearest evidence is FPT Software's investment project in Slovakia.
Regarding labor, the two sides agreed to consider soon negotiating a Labor Agreement to protect the rights and promote the movement of highly skilled labor; agreed to consider creating favorable conditions and soon negotiate a visa-free agreement for official passport holders of the two countries.
The two sides agreed to promote cooperation in the field of tourism, especially increasing the number of tourists from Slovakia to Vietnam higher than the current 18,000 tourists from Slovakia to Vietnam. The Slovak Prime Minister proposed that the two sides study early establishment of a direct flight route between Brastislava - Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City.
After the talks, the two sides agreed to adopt a Joint Statement on upgrading Vietnam-Slovakia relations to "Strategic Partnership".
This is a historical milestone in bilateral relations, opening a new chapter in cooperation between Vietnam and Slovakia, meeting the aspirations and interests of the people of the two countries.
To realize this political determination, Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and Prime Minister Robert Fico have assigned the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take the lead in developing a specific Action Plan to realize the Joint Statement.
