Vietnamese, Slovak presidents hold talks

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet and visiting Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic met Monday, seeking ways of fostering all-round cooperative relations between the two countries.

The ongoing official visit of Ivan Gasparovic will contribute to beefing up the ties between Vietnam and Slovakia, especially in the fields of economy, trade and investment, Triet said while meeting with his Slovak counterpart, who started his three-day trip to Vietnam on Monday.

Vietnam and Slovakia have many potential cooperative areas such as economy, culture, education, training, science and technology, Triet said, noting that the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries have developed smoothly in recent years.

Triet thanked Slovakia for its supporting Vietnam to join WTO and to become a non-permanent council member of the UN Security Council, and hoped that Slovakia will enhance investment in Vietnam.

Slovakia, a member of the European Union, will help Vietnam strengthen its relations with the body, the Slovak president noted.

After the meeting, Triet and his Slovak counterpart witnessed ceremonies of signing two cooperative deals, including a cooperation agreement on economy and trade, and the other on visa- excuse to person with diplomatic passport.

In his stay here, the Slovak president is also scheduled to meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong.

Vietnam and Slovakia have already had cooperation in such fields as engineering, shipbuilding, chemical, infrastructure construction, garment, leather footwear and foodstuff processing. Their trade has annually stood at, on average, over 20 million U.S. dollars in recent years, according to the Vietnamese Trade Ministry.

Source: Xinhua