(Bqp.vn) - In 2014, Vietnam and Brazil celebrates the 25th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relationship (8th May). On this occasion, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Brazil, Nguyen Van Kien, talked with a reporter from the Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper, about the friendship and cooperative relations between the two countries.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Brazil Nguyen Van Kien.
Of which the ambassador said that over the past 25 years, the fine relations between the two countries had been reinforced and had developed in diverse areas.
The two countries exchanged high-ranking delegations, delegations from the National Assemblies, ministries, localities, people’s organizations and enterprises, with diverse cooperation documents having been signed, including an agreement on political consultancy between the two Foreign Ministries, and agreements on cultural, medical, scientific, technological, sports and poverty reduction cooperation. In addition, negotiations on technical, educational, agricultural, national defence, maritime transport and tourism cooperation have also been completed.
Regarding multilateral cooperation, Ambassador Kien said that the two countries shared similar viewpoints on United Nations reform and other international issues. Brazil supported Vietnam’s membership o fthe World Trade Organization, Vietnam’s non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council (term 2008-2009). Meanwhile, Vietnam also supported Brazil’s position as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council term 2010-2011), and confirmed that Vietnam would continue to support Brazil to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council when the council is expanded.
According to Ambassador Kien, in terms of economic cooperation, there are diverse cooperative activities and trade exchanges between the two countries. Many Vietnamese products are available in Brazilian markets and vice-versa. The two-way trade turnover has sharply increased over the past years, although it has not fulfilled its potential.
Relations between the peoples have also prospered, which was marked by the establishment of the Vietnam – Brazil friendship and cooperation association in June 2010 and the Brazil – Vietnam friendship association in April 2012.
Highlighting the economic and trade relations, Ambassador Kien said that over the past 25 years, and especially over the recent years, the trade relation between the two countries has seen strong progress and has increased and developed. Since 1989, the two-way trade turnover between the two countries has increased 150 fold, from USD16 million to USD2.4 billion. Brazil is currently the largest trade partner of Vietnam from the Latin American region, Mr. Kien said.
Answering the reporter’s question if the geographic distance, traffic difficulties and language dissimilarities are hindrances for the development of the economic and trade relations, Ambassador Kien stressed the mutual understanding among the two markets. Therefore, he urged enterprises to be more dynamic in seeking market information and partners.
For a long-term period, the ambassador said it was needed to teach Portuguese to promote relations with Portuguese speaking countries, including Brazil. He also said that it was necessary to promptly sign the agreement on educational cooperation to get scholarships from the Brazilian Government as well as universities.
In addition, the ambassador stressed the need for a communications and external information sector that includes information written in the Portuguese language.
Regarding activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Brazil, Ambassador Kien said that the two sides are rechecking the implementation of agreements and deals in effect and preparing for the upcoming ones. Besides, the two sides are exploiting the potential of a geographic political position at MERCOSUR as well as at ASEAN.
This year, the Vietnamese Embassy in Brazil expects to organise conferences with exhibitions to introduce and promote information about Vietnam, as well as investment and trade cooperation opportunities with Vietnam at some of Brazil’s larger states.
On the occasion of the National Days of the two countries, Vietnam Week will also be organised involving diverse activities besides working visits with states’ leaders to promote multilateral cooperation with Vietnam, especially in the economic area.
Furthermore, the embassy will encourage the press from both countries to cover the news about the two countries as well as the friendship and cooperative relations between Vietnam and Brazil. According to the ambassador, as the 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil and Vietnamese journalists will come to Brazil to cover the event, the embassy is expected to support journalists in writing news on people, culture, customs, the country of football and the homeland of samba dances.
