President: Bulgaria Can Bridge Vietnam and Europe

Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan (L) also met with Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev (R) on Tuesday. Photo by BGNES

Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev has urged Vietnam to use Bulgaria as a "bridge to Europe" upon welcoming Vietnam's Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan.

Plevneliev met with Nguyen Thien Nhan in Sofia Tuesday as part of the Bulgarian visit of the Vietnamese Deputy PM who arrived at the invitation of Bulgaria's Deputy PM and Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, the press service of the Bulgarian Presidency announced.

The Bulgarian President has stressed that Bulgaria and Vietnam have a substantial "untapped potential" in joint manufacturing companies, chemical industry, machine-building, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and the military-industrial complex.

Plevneliev urged Vietnam to use the Bulgarian Black Sea ports of Varna and Burgas and Bulgaria's Danube ports to boost its trade with the European Union, as well as to consider Bulgaria's industrial zone projects for its businesses.

Vietnamese Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan has assessed highly the relations between Bulgaria and Vietnam; he said Bulgaria can count on Vietnam's support within the UN, and that Vietnam can boost Bulgaria's contacts in Southeast Asia and ASEAN.

Nguyen thanked the Bulgarian President for the good conditions that Bulgaria provides to the Vietnamese community in the country which numbers about 1 000 people.

Both officials did not omit the chance to mention the fact that a large number of Vietnamese are graduates of Bulgarian universities, which is owing primarily to the close ties in the communist period, and declared themselves in favor of expanding the opportunities for Vietnamese students to study in Bulgaria again.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!