Vietnamese, Slovak PMs witness exchange of documents, chair joint press briefing

Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents between the two countries and chaired a joint press briefing to announce the outcomes of their earlier talks in Hanoi on April 13.

In the presence of the two PMs, ministries, agencies, and localities of both nations exchanged six cooperation documents. These included a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence and the Slovak Ministry of Defence on cooperation in the defence industry; an MoU between the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs; and another on cultural cooperation for the 2026 2030 period between Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Slovakia’s Ministry of Culture.

The two sides also exchanged a cooperation agreement between the People’s Committee of Dien Bien province and the authorities of Vysoké Tatry town covering economic, trade, scientific, technical, and cultural cooperation for the 2026 2031 period, along with an MoU between the Commission for Standards, Metrology and Quality of Vietnam (STAMEQ) and the Slovak Office of Standards, Metrology and Testing (UNMS), and another between the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute and the Slovak Nuclear Power Plant Research Institute.

At the press briefing, PM Hung noted that the visit takes place at a particularly significant moment, shortly after Vietnam completed the consolidation of its key leadership apparatus. He stressed that PM Fico is the first foreign guest he has received in his capacity as the Government leader, and also the first high-ranking leader from the European Union to visit Vietnam following the elevation of Vietnam EU relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

He emphasised that the visit serves as a vivid testament to the importance that PM Fico personally and the Government of Slovakia attach to Vietnam, reflecting the longstanding, close, sincere, and trustworthy friendship between the two countries.

In an atmosphere of sincerity, mutual trust and understanding, the PMs held highly successful talks and reached broad consensus in aspects. They adopted a joint statement on upgrading Vietnam Slovakia relations to a Strategic Partnership.

Accordingly, the leaders agreed to instruct the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs to promptly develop an action plan to implement the Vietnam Slovakia strategic partnership framework, aiming to create a qualitative breakthrough in the bilateral cooperation and deliver tangible benefits to the people and businesses of the two countries.

During the visit, ministries, sectors, localities, and businesses of the two sides signed and exchanged 16 cooperation documents covering key areas of politics diplomacy, national defence, culture, nuclear energy, standards and metrology, local-level cooperation, security, healthcare, tourism, and shipbuilding.

PM Hung stated that, in order to deepen the Strategic Partnership in the time to come, the two sides reached strong consensus on advancing a set of measures, including strengthening political trust and supporting each other in enhancing their international roles and positions; making substantive progress in economic, trade, and investment cooperation; bolstering defence and security ties commensurate with the high political trust; promoting cooperation in science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation; and expanding partnership in education - training, labour, culture, and tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

Providing further details on specific cooperation programmes, the Vietnamese PM thanked Slovakia for recognising the Vietnamese community as the 14th ethnic minority group in the Central European country, thereby creating a solid legal foundation for the community to integrate with confidence and contribute to the bilateral friendship.

He expressed his belief that, with strong political determination from both governments and the joint efforts of businesses and people of the two countries, the Vietnam Slovakia Strategic Partnership will bring prosperity to both nations and contribute positively to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world.

For his part, Slovak PM Fico noted that the two sides held frank and constructive discussions.

Recalling his visit to Vietnam in 2016, Slovak PM Fico expressed deep admiration for the country’s remarkable progress and significant achievements in recent years. He congratulated Vietnam on the outcomes of the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which outlined key development strategies, notably the shift from quantity-based to quality-driven growth.

The Slovak PM highlighted the sound development of Vietnam Slovakia relations on the basis of mutual benefit, emphasising that Vietnam is not only a friend but also Slovakia’s largest trading partner in Southeast Asia. However, he noted that economic and trade cooperation has yet to match its full potential. Therefore, both sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation across all fields, particularly in economy and trade, in line with their newly upgraded Strategic Partnership as well as the Vietnam EU Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

PM Fico said that a large Slovak business delegation is accompanying him on this visit and will attend the Vietnam Slovakia Business Forum. The two countries' governments are committed to supporting enterprises in expanding cooperation, investment and business activities, translating political commitments into concrete outcomes.

Slovakia is ready to enhance cooperation and share expertise with Vietnam in priority areas such as nuclear energy, defence industry, finance and education-training. He also noted Slovak citizens’ strong interest in travelling to Vietnam, and thanked Vietnam for granting visa exemptions for Slovak nationals, while expressing his hope for the establishment of direct flights to further boost tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

Sharing and supporting Vietnam’s positions on international issues of mutual concern, PM Fico invited PM Hung to visit Slovakia at an early date, while calling for increased high-level exchanges to advance bilateral ties for the benefit of both countries, as well as for peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world./.