On the afternoon of October 20, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Hungarian National Assembly Speaker Kover Laszlo, who is paying an official visit to Vietnam from October 18 to 22.

The Prime Minister warmly welcomed Speaker Kover Laszlo and the Hungarian delegation to Vietnam on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. He emphasized that the visit holds great significance in strengthening legislative ties and advancing the Vietnam - Hungary Comprehensive Partnership.

The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam attaches great importance to its friendship with traditional partners in Central and Eastern Europe, with Hungary being one of the country’s top priorities. Recalling his official visit to Hungary in January 2024, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed satisfaction with the positive developments in bilateral ties and noted that Speaker Kover Laszlo’s visit marks a new milestone in deepening cooperation between the two sides.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh updated Speaker Kover Laszlo on Vietnam’s recent socio-economic achievements and outlined key strategic directions, including renewing the growth model, reforming institutions, promoting science and technology, and building an independent, self-reliant economy.

Speaker Kover Laszlo expressed his delight at returning to Vietnam after a decade, thanking the Vietnamese leaders and people for their warm and thoughtful welcome. He also conveyed an invitation from President Sulyok Tamas for Party General Secretary To Lam to soon visit Hungary.

He expressed admiration for Vietnam’s remarkable socio-economic progress over nearly 40 years of the renewal process, recognizing Vietnam’s growing regional and international stature. Hungary, he affirmed, considers Vietnam its most important partner in Southeast Asia.

During the meeting, both sides agreed that economic, trade, and investment cooperation remains a key pillar of bilateral relations. They emphasized the need to strengthen collaboration in these areas to match the high level of political trust.

The Prime Minister highly appreciated Hungary for being among the first EU members to ratify the EU - Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and called on the Hungarian National Assembly to continue supporting the ratification process in other EU member states.

Speaker Kover Laszlo reaffirmed that Hungary would continue to encourage and advocate for other EU countries to approve the agreement, emphasizing that this serves the interests of both EU members and Vietnam, which he described as the EU’s largest and most important trading partner in Southeast Asia.

In a spirit of friendship and mutual understanding, both sides discussed major directions to make bilateral cooperation more substantive. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed several measures, including enhancing political trust through regular delegation exchanges and high-level contacts across all channels, Party, State, Government, National Assembly, and people-to-people exchanges.

He also emphasized the need to strengthen trade and investment cooperation, aiming to double the current trade turnover to around USD 2 billion in the coming period, identifying this as a crucial pillar in bilateral relations.

The Prime Minister further called for expanding development cooperation and effectively implementing projects funded by Hungary’s preferential credit lines for Vietnam. He encouraged broader cooperation in education and training, especially in Hungary’s areas of strength and Vietnam’s priorities such as nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, high technology, medicine, and innovation.

Speaker Kover Laszlo fully agreed with these proposals and affirmed that the Hungarian National Assembly would continue working closely with the Vietnamese side to implement high-level agreements, facilitate cooperation across all sectors, particularly in trade, investment, and education, and help strengthen the legal framework for bilateral collaboration, thereby deepening the Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries.

The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern. They agreed to maintain close coordination and mutual support at multilateral forums, and to uphold the principle of resolving disputes peacefully in accordance with international law.

Regarding the East Sea issue, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called on the Hungarian National Assembly to support Vietnam and ASEAN’s stance of settling disputes by peaceful means, in line with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).