General Secretary To Lam holds talks with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev

According to VNA special correspondent, at the invitation of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, General Secretary To Lam and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, will pay an official visit to Bulgaria from October 22-24.

On the morning of October 23 local time, after a solemn official welcoming ceremony, General Secretary To Lam and President Rumen Radev held talks at the Presidential Palace.

General Secretary To Lam and his wife with President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev and his wife at the Presidential Palace. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

Warmly welcoming General Secretary To Lam's first visit to Bulgaria on the occasion of the two countries' 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations, President Rumen Radev emphasized Vietnam's position and role in the Asia- Pacific region and highly appreciated Vietnam's foreign policy, contributing to peace, stability and development of the region. President Rumen Radev recalled his deep impressions during his visit to Vietnam in November 2024 about the beautiful country, warm and hospitable people and Vietnam's great achievements in socio-economic development with the right reform policy, and affirmed that Bulgaria always attaches importance to the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam, wishing to promote cooperation with Vietnam to contribute to sustainable development in each country as well as prosperity on the two continents.

General Secretary To Lam thanked President Rumen Radev for the warm, friendly and respectful reception given to the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation and emphasized that Vietnam attaches special importance to its relations with Bulgaria, always remembers and appreciates the valuable support of the Bulgarian people for Vietnam in the struggle for national liberation, independence and reunification, as well as in national construction and development.

At the meeting, the two sides informed each other about the situation and development orientation of each country, saying that the two sides share many similarities in goals and policies as well as have the potential to complement each other. Expressing their delight at the positive developments in bilateral relations in recent times, the two leaders discussed directions and measures to deepen the Vietnam - Bulgaria cooperation framework, making it more practical and suitable to the new context. The two leaders agreed to announce the upgrading of Vietnam - Bulgaria relations to a Strategic Partnership. With this decision, Bulgaria becomes the first country in the Balkan region to have a Strategic Partnership with Vietnam.

The two leaders agreed to expand and deepen cooperation in the spirit of the new cooperation framework, especially in areas where Bulgaria has expertise and Vietnam has demand. The two sides also agreed to develop and immediately implement a Strategic Partnership Action Plan.

General Secretary To Lam and President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev held a closed-door meeting. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

The two leaders agreed to enhance political trust through continuing to promote delegation exchanges and high-level contacts through all channels of the Party, State, National Assembly and people-to-people exchanges. In the context of many challenges in the world economy, the two countries need to coordinate closely, making economic, trade and investment cooperation a central pillar in the strategic partnership. President Rumen Radev emphasized that both sides need to support and create favorable conditions for businesses of the two countries to do business and invest in each country and was pleased that many Vietnamese businesses came to Bulgaria to attend the Business Forum during General Secretary To Lam's visit.

The two sides agreed to strongly promote trade and investment through opening markets to each other; taking advantage of the Vietnam - European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) with the goal of doubling bilateral trade turnover in the coming years. The two sides are ready to be the "gateway" for each other's goods to penetrate the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market and the European Union (EU) market. Regarding defense and security cooperation, the two sides agreed to promote training cooperation and cooperation in the fields of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping, cyber security, military medicine, etc.

The two leaders also agreed to make science and technology cooperation an important pillar of the strategic partnership with digital transformation, digital economy, digital infrastructure and e-government, pharmaceuticals and biomedicine, virtual assistants and modern computer science, green energy, etc. To enhance people-to-people exchanges, the two leaders agreed to build cultural programs and activities, promote tourism in each country, and encourage air connectivity. President Rumen Radev expressed his admiration for Vietnamese folk culture and wished to organize cultural exchange activities so that people of the two countries could understand each other better. President Rumen Radev said that Bulgaria has a great demand for labor while Vietnam has a young, skilled workforce. He hopes to welcome many Vietnamese students to study in Bulgaria, promoting the tradition of cooperation in the fields of education, training and labor.

President Rumen Radev thanked Vietnam for visa exemption for Bulgarian citizens, which has helped many Bulgarians travel to Vietnam and hoped that Vietnamese tourists would visit Bulgaria. General Secretary To Lam asked Bulgaria to simplify visa issuance for Vietnamese citizens, agreed to promote cooperation in education and vocational training, and is ready to exchange students and experts between the two countries.

General Secretary To Lam and Bulgarian President Rumen Radev held official talks. Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA

President Rumen Radev proudly mentioned that Bulgaria has trained more than 30,000 skilled experts, students and researchers for Vietnam, many of whom hold important positions in the Government and in the economic, scientific and cultural fields of Vietnam, actively participating in fostering friendship between the two countries. General Secretary To Lam asked the President and the Government of Bulgaria to continue creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live stably, integrate and contribute to the socio-economic development of Bulgaria, serving as a bridge of friendship between the two countries.

Regarding the international and regional situation, the two leaders shared their stance and vision in resolving issues and responding to current challenges; agreed to increase the exchange of views on issues of mutual concern, closely coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums such as the UN, ASEAN - EU, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). The two sides support ASEAN's stance in ensuring security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, and resolving disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982).

On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam sent greetings and invitations to visit Vietnam from high-ranking Vietnamese leaders to President Rumen Radev and Bulgarian leaders.

After the talks, General Secretary To Lam and President Rumen Radev jointly announced the establishment of a strategic partnership and chaired a joint press meeting.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/tong-bi-thu-to-lam-hoi-dam-voi-tong-thong-bulgaria-rumen-radev-20251023201956379.htm