Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Vietnam-Uruguay bilateral trade has recorded rapid growth while remaining modest in value. The PM affirmed that Vietnam always hopes to promote its friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Uruguay, suggesting that relevant ministries and agencies of both sides should research and work out measures to increase two-way trade value as well as maintain the exchange of delegations at all levels to enhance mutual understanding and discuss measures to strengthen bilateral relations.
According to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnam is an open market with many opportunities for foreign investors, particularly when the country officially joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. Vietnam is also willing to serve as the gateway to ASEAN for enterprises from Uruguay, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc added.
For his part, Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa said Uruguay wishes to deepen trade ties with Southeast Asian countries, particularly Vietnam which has a good economic growth and great development potentials. He hoped the two countries will soon sign a free trade pact to boost trade and investment ties.
Besides the meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa also had a talk with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. During the talk, Vietnam and Uruguay agreed to set up a joint committee on economic in the coming time in accordance with the Framework Agreement on Trade and Investment that took effect in April 2016.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh hailed Uruguay’s opening of an embassy in Hanoi and appointment of its ambassador to Vietnam, which he said contributed to developing bilateral ties over the past time. Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa reaffirmed that Uruguay is pursuing the policy of diversifying ties, and considering Vietnam one of leading partners in Asia-Pacific.
Vietnamese and Uruguay showed their pleasure with the positive development of cooperation across the fields, evidenced by regular visits at all levels in the talk.
Vietnam and Uruguay have signed a number of important cooperation agreements on agriculture, agro-fisheries processing, information and biological technology, and climate change mitigation. Both two countries agreed to step up negotiations to sign agreements on customs, animal and plant quarantine and other specific areas, making it easier for their business communities to access each other’s market and seek partners.
The two countries also agreed to maintain the regular political consultation mechanism at deputy foreign ministerial-level in order to push forward the practical and effective ties.
Vietnam and Uruguay pledged to help each other to export goods to the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and ASEAN, as well as intensify bilateral links across culture, training, tourism and sports through specific projects and programmes.
Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa asked the Vietnamese government to further facilitate the import of goods from Uruguay, especially beef and fruit, adding that Uruguay has begun to import more goods from Vietnam.
The two Foreign Ministers spoke highly of mutual liaison at international organisations and multilateral forums. On the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh expressed his thanks to the Uruguayan government for backing Vietnam’s bid to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021 tenure and for recognising Vietnam as a market economy.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh suggested that the two countries would increase the sharing of experience in joining multilateral mechanisms, the UN peacekeeping force, and bilateral and multilateral economic-trade negotiations.
On regional and global issues of shared concern, they promised to promote coordination between ASEAN and MERCOSUR, and other inter-regional cooperation mechanisms.
As regards the East Sea issue, they shared the stance on the settlement of sovereignty disputes by peaceful means, refraining from the use of force or threat to use force, respecting diplomatic and legal process in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
