Vietnam - Spain aim to upgrade relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during his talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to and wishes to further promote multifaceted cooperation with Spain, Vietnam's first strategic partner in the EU.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez emphasized that the two countries still have much room for cooperation; agreed with Vietnam to aim to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership in the coming time. The Spanish Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam is one of the top priority partners in ASEAN and Spain wishes to promote comprehensive cooperation with Vietnam; emphasized that more and more Spanish businesses and tourists want to visit Vietnam and learn about investment and business opportunities, especially in the fields of railway and urban railway cooperation, energy, and aviation.

The two leaders discussed major cooperation directions to make the Vietnam - Spain Strategic Partnership increasingly in-depth, practical and effective. In terms of politics and diplomacy, the two sides agreed to increase delegation exchanges and contacts at all levels, especially at high levels through all channels of the Party, State, Government, and National Assembly; effectively implement existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, as well as study and establish new cooperation mechanisms in specialized fields. The two Prime Ministers suggested that the two countries' Foreign Ministries continue to play a coordinating role in promoting bilateral relations, studying the contents towards upgrading the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the coming time.

The two leaders affirmed that the economic, trade and investment sectors are one of the important pillars in the Vietnam - Spain Strategic Partnership. The two leaders agreed to effectively implement the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the newly signed Protocol on bilateral financial cooperation, as well as soon hold the First Session of the Joint Committee on Economy, Trade and Investment in 2025 to maximize the potential and complementarity of the two economies, striving to bring bilateral trade turnover to exceed 8 billion USD in the coming time.

The head of the Spanish Government highly appreciated the potential for cooperation opened up when the Vietnam - EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) officially took effect, committed to supporting the mobilization of the remaining EU countries to soon ratify this Agreement; urged the EC to soon remove the "IUU" yellow card for Vietnamese seafood. The Spanish Prime Minister emphasized the nature of the complementary economy between the two countries and suggested that Vietnam reduce non-taxable administrative procedures and open markets for Spanish agricultural and poultry products to promote balanced trade cooperation.

The two leaders agreed to continue to deepen cooperation in the fields of education, culture, sports and tourism, sustainable agricultural development, local cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, training of high-quality human resources, national defense and security; expand cooperation in other potential areas such as science - technology, innovation, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and digital transformation.

After the talks, the two Prime Ministers witnessed the handover ceremony of cooperation documents in the fields of diplomacy, finance, culture and sports, agriculture and education.

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