Vietnam attaches importance to ties with Croatia
Vietnam always attaches importance to maintaining and strengthening its traditional friendship with countries in Eastern Europe, including Croatia, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang told Croatian Ambassador to Malaysia and Vietnam Ivan Velimir Starcevic during a reception on November 2.
During the meeting, the Deputy Minister and the Ambassador discussed ties between Vietnam and Croatia, as well as measures to step up bilateral ties in various fields in the coming time.
They welcomed the positive developments in political and diplomatic relations over the past years, particularly the Croatia visit by Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan in October 2022 and the political consultations between the two foreign ministries in March 2023, contributing to deepening substantive cooperation between the two nations.
The two sides agreed to jointly hold activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Vietnam – Croatia diplomatic ties next year.
Hang thanked Croatia for approving the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and supporting the early ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) by the remaining EU member states as well as the lifting of the yellow card warning against Vietnamese aquatic products.
Starcevic briefed the host about Croatia's new policies after the country joined the Schengen area and Eurozone in January 2023, which he said, have opened up new opportunities for bilateral cooperation in areas of Vietnam’s demand and Croatia’s strength, such as labour, education-training, culture-sports-tourism.
He affirmed that the Croatian leaders and authorities always create favourable conditions for Vietnamese people to live, do business stably and legally in the country, thereby strengthening the friendly relations between the two nations.
