Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero held talks yesterday during which they agreed on measures . . .

President Nguyen Minh Triet and Prirne Minister Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero (rear) witness agreements signed yesterday in Madrid.

The two leaders stressed the need to increase the exchange of visits at various levels, strengthen existing mechanisms for co-operation, and create favourable conditions for trade and investment in areas in which Spain has strengths and Viet Nam needs, including infrastructure, renewable energy, science and technology and tourism. They noted with satisfaction that the two countries’ all-round relations had seen important steps of development, especially in culture and education.

The two leaders also agreed to raise their co-operation in a number of international areas, including climate change and cooking and energy security, particularly when Viet Nam assumes the chairmanship of ASEAN next year and Spain the EU presidency.

Triet informed his host of Viet Nam’s decision to take part in the “allies of civilisations’ friendship group” initiated by Spain and invited Zapatero to pay an official visit to Viet Nam. Both the decision and invitation were welcomed by the Zapatero.

After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of the two governments’ “Common Action Plan” which aims to define a framework for the Viet Nam-Spain strategic partnership and a memorandum of understanding on co-operation in science and technology, social affairs, and capital provision for a subway system in HCM City. They prioritised projects for subsequent programmes.

Earlier yesterday, Triet delivered a speech to representatives of the Spanish parliament in which he highly valued the Spanish government’s decision to prioritise Viet Nam in its relations with the Asia-Pacific region.

Triet affirmed that, on the basis of the fine political and diplomatic relations between the two countries, Viet Nam wished to further strengthen and broaden its co-operation with Spain in commerce, trade, investment, education, culture, and science and technology.

In reply, the president of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, Jose Bono, stressed that his country always stood ready to co-operate and share its experiences with Viet Nam in socio-economic development.

Yesterday morning, Triet also attended the Viet Nam-Spain Business Forum.

Spanish Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade Antonio Sanchez Bustamante said that Spain and Viet Nam shared great potential for further co-operation because Viet Nam’s dynamic economy had actively and quickly integrated in the world economy and served as a symbol of achieving economic growth with social equity.

Bustamante said that, based on the two countries’ agreements, Spain committed to make every effort to boost relations with Viet Nam and support the country’s enterprises in relations with the EU.

He said that the Spanish government always encouraged its enterprises to take part in Viet Nam’s market.

The minister said that, thanks to Spain’s presidency of the EU in the first six months of next year, and Viet Nam’s chairmanship of ASEAN, the two countries needed to take advantage of this chance to boost the relations of the EU and ASEAN to recover from the crisis and improve bilateral and multilateral co-operation in trade and commerce.

He said that his country was willing to co-operate with and transfer technology to Viet Nam in the fields of renewable energy, aviation, railway and science and technology.

Triet affirmed that Viet Nam and Spain had agreed to heighten their relationship to a strategic partnership in the future. Spain also considered Viet Nam a priority in co-operation with the Asia-Pacific.

He said that Viet Nam wished to attract greater intellectual investment and exchange of experiences from Spain.

He hoped that Spanish investors would funnel capital not only into economic projects but also other fields such as education and culture.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem also signed an agreement in Madrid on visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders, a memorandum on political co-operation between the two countries’ ministries of foreign affairs, and a memorandum on co-operation in labour and social insurance.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News