Hanoi (VNA) – Both Vietnam and Türkiye pin high hope on Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit that it will create a new impetus for bilateral relations to grow morestrongly and comprehensively, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Türkiye DoSon Hai.

To intensify the two countries’ relations, PM Chinh, hisspouse, and the high-ranking delegation of Vietnam are paying an official visitto Türkiye.

Granting an interview to the Vietnam News Agency, Hai saidbilateral ties have undergone 45 years of development and enjoyed positivechanges.

In terms of politics, they have organised more mutual visitsand talks at higher levels, typically this visit by PM Chinh which is thefirst trip to Türkiye by a Vietnamese PM.

The two countries have given mutual assistance intrying times, he said, elaborating that during the COVID-19 pandemic, they madetimely donations of medical supplies and vaccines to each other.

Particularly, after the deadly earthquakes in earlyFebruary 2023 that took a heavy toll on Türkiye, the VietnameseGovernment and people deployed two rescue teams and presented medical suppliesto help the country address disaster consequences. These were the first rescueteams of Vietnam sent abroad so far, he noted.

In terms of economy, the ambassador continued, bilateral tradehas improved after the pandemic, increasing 26.3% from 2021 to over 2 billionUSD last year. Vietnam is currently the second biggest partner of Türkiye among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), afterMalaysia.

They have also worked actively to explorecooperation opportunities in the fields of defence and security. Many Turkishbusinesses have voiced their wish to learn about investment chances in Vietnam,he said.

Hai affirmed that the Vietnam - Türkiye relations haverecorded relatively positive and meaningful strides over the recent past. However,there remains much room for both sides to enhance bilateral partnerships in allareas.

Given this, the countries have high expectations for PM Chinh’svisit, which not only demonstrates their resolve to promote all-roundconnections and mutual trust but is also hoped to create a new impetus fortheir relations to make breakthrough and develop faster, more strongly andcomprehensively. They expect the trip will be an occasion for them to havehigh-level discussions on cooperation orientations for the time ahead, accordingto the diplomat.

Hai added that the official visit holds great significancealso because the two countries are organising various activities tocelebrate the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties in 2023. Therefore,it is also expected to mark a new milestone in their relations. Its outcomeswill create prerequisites for cooperation to reach a new height.

Aside from discussing major cooperation directions,leaders of Vietnam and Türkiye will also look into some concretecooperation activities such as the partnership between the two national flag carriers, Vietnam Airlines and Turkish Airlines, and the collaboration betweenthe countries’ agriculture ministries and trade ministries.

Activities of ministries and sectors during thevisit will also be good chances for the two sides to gain a betterunderstanding about each other and form the basis for future ties, he remarked./.