Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan (L) and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo De Sousa. Photo: VNA

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan on Oct. 29 has met Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo De Sousa and received Vice-President of the Assembly Antonio Filipe Gaiao on the sidelines of her attendance at the 2021 Global Summit of Women.

The Portuguese President affirmed that the bilateral meetings on this occasion are of great significance, creating an impetus for the two nations’ ties to continue to develop positively in the post-Covid-19 period.

He affirmed that Portugal attaches importance to and wishes to build its long-term relations with Vietnam.

Both Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Xuan expressed their delight at the growing friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Portugal since the establishment of their diplomatic relations in 1975.

They agreed that there is a need for increasing the exchange of delegations at all levels in the time to come.

At the meeting between Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo De Sousa. Photo: VNA

Xuan praised Portugal's role in the EU as well as in solving common problems of the international community. She wished that the two nations will strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation in order to make it a pillar of bilateral relations.

Emphasizing that the sides need to continue to effectively implement the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Xuan suggested Portugal soon ratify the EU – Vietnam Investment Agreement (EVIPA) and urge the European Commission (EC) to remove a “yellow card” warning on Vietnamese seafood.

She took the occasion to convey the invitation of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the Portuguese President to visit Vietnam soon.

At the meeting with Vice-President of the Assembly of Portugal Antonio Filipe Gaiao. Photo: VNA

At the meeting with Antonio Filipe Gaiao, who is also a member of the Portuguese Communist Party Central Committee, Xuan informed him of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)’s goals and orientations for national development for 2021-2025.

She suggested the Portuguese Communist Party continue to coordinate with the CPV on multilateral activities and support the early ratification of the EVIPA.

For his part, Antonio Filipe Gaiao talked about the efforts of his Party in protecting the interests of the working class in Portugal.

On the same day, Xuan had a meeting with the Vietnamese community in Portugal. She informed them about the situation in Vietnam and stressed that the Vietnamese Party, State, and people are striving to prevent and control the Covid outbreak while implementing measures to restore the economy.

On this occasion, the Vietnamese community made their donations to Vietnam's Covid prevention fund.

As marine-based economies, Vietnam and Portugal held the first exchange more than 500 years ago when the first Portuguese arrived at Hoi An port in 1516). The Portuguese missionary Francisco de Pina (1585-1625) was the one who laid the foundation for the formation of Quoc Ngu, the Vietnamese writing system based on the Roman alphabet.

Bilateral ties have grown since the visits made to Portugal by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in June 2015, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in May 2017 and then Deputy-Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue in January 2018, and the Vietnam visit made by Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Teresa Ribeiro in November 2017.

Last week, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Portugal Dinh Toan Thang on Oct. 20 has presented his letter of credentials to the Portuguese President in Lisbon.

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