Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou Begins 4-Day Visit to Vietnam

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou welcomed at the airport. Photo: VNA

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and a high-ranking delegation of Greece arrived in Hanoi on May 15 afternoon, beginning their four-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, reported VNA Sunday.

Present at the welcome ceremony in the airport for the Greek President and her entourage at Noi Bai International Airport were Head of the Presidential Office Le Khanh Hai, Vietnamese Ambassador to Greece Le Hong Truong, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Quang Hieu, and other representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreihn Affairs and the Greek Embassy in Hanoi.

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and a high-ranking delegation of Greece arrived in Hanoi on May 15 afternoon. Photo: VNA

During her stay in Vietnam, President Sakellaropoulou is scheduled to pay tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum and fallen soldiers at Heroic Martyrs’ Monument in Hanoi.

She will hold talks with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, pay a courtesy visit to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and meet with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

The Greek President will also witness the signing of documents, meet with the press, visit Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature Complex) in Hanoi, and attend some events in localities.

The visit takes place in the context that the Vietnam-Greece traditional friendship is developing fruitfully, with conversations and meetings between the two countries’ leaders maintained despite impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is expected to contribute to consolidating political trust and deepening the multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries.

Vietnam and Greece established diplomatic ties on April 15, 1975.

Greece opened its embassy in Hanoi in March 2007, while Vietnam opened its embassy in Athens in December 2010 and officially inaugurated it on March 26, 2012.

Despite having to address a public-debt crisis with a range of political, economic and social issues, along with the migration crisis over the past time, Greece has placed importance to its relations with Vietnam.

Two-way trade has grown rapidly over the past five years, surpassing USD 446 million in 2021, up 33% year-on-year. Notably, Vietnam’s exports to Greece have expanded strongly and the country has always run a large trade surplus with Greece.

Vietnam mainly ships footwear, garments-textiles, and aquatic and timber products to Greece. It is noteworthy that as from 2013, Vietnam’s mobile phone exports to the Southeast European nation rose significantly, from USD 73.9 million in 2014 to USD 116 million in 2020.

The country imports a small volume of paper and paperboard, and materials for tobacco production from Greece.

In development cooperation, Greece has provided aid for ethnic minority groups, flood victims, people with disabilities and Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims in Vietnam, through building a USD-200,000 school in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, donating USD 100,000 to the fund for AO victims, and presenting 100 wheelchairs to local disabled people, and other activities.

Vietnam and Greece have signed a number of cooperation documents to promote their bilateral ties, including a framework cooperation on collaboration in economy, industry and technology in 1996, another on tourism cooperation in 2007, an agreement on cultural cooperation in 2008, another on investment encouragement and protection in 2008, a tourism agreement in 2013, and one on visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders in 2018, to name but a few.

Greece is one of the first EU countries to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and back Vietnam’s candidacy for membership of the UN Human Rights Council for 2023-2025.

Vietnam and Laos Agree to Support Each Other at Multilateral Forums Vietnam and Laos agree to continue having each others' backs at multilateral forums

Vietnamese, Indonesian Defense Ministries Agree to Intensify Relations Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto is paying an official visit to Vietnam from May 12 to 14 at the invitation of Vietnamese Defense Minister General ...

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou to Pay Official Visit to Vietnam The Greek President will be visit Vietnam next week