Celebration of 45th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Argentina and Vietnam

Today, 6 September, the Argentine Foreign Ministry and the Vietnamese Embassy in Buenos Aires celebrated the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between both countries.

The event, which took place at the Manuel Belgrano Auditorium, was chaired by the Deputy Foreign Minister, Daniel Raimondi, and the Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Dang Xuang Dung, and was attended by members of the foreign diplomatic corps, national authorities, and representatives of the private sector and the Vietnamese community.

“Argentina regards Vietnam as a key partner in Asia, given our economic complementarity, our close political relations and Vietnam’s importance in the Southeast Asian region” the Deputy Foreign Minister stated, stressing the traditional bonds of friendship and cooperation between both peoples. “Argentina was one of the first Latin American countries to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, in 1973,” he recalled.

Raimondi stated that the two countries “have established a strategic partnership” and added that bilateral relations “have shown an exponential growth in recent years, based on three pillars: political dialogue, promotion of trade and investments and technical cooperation.”

The Deputy Foreign Minister assured that “this strong political dialogue is reflected in our economic relationship” and explained that “coinciding with the mutual opening of embassies, trade between both countries has increased 250 times since mid-1990, from USD 11 million in 1995 to almost USD 3 billion in 2017, thus becoming the fifth main destination for Argentine exports and Argentina’s second largest trade surplus.” He also listed the various initiatives to increase and diversify trade, and highlighted the good progress of market access negotiations for Argentine and Vietnamese products.

Argentina and Vietnam maintain significant exchanges in the field of technical cooperation, through the transfer of capacities, knowledge and technology, especially in relation to agro-industry. Argentina’s recent accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) will promote even further our cooperation with the region, in which Vietnam is an active member and one of the most dynamic economies.

High-level meetings between both countries have increased over the last few years. President Mauricio Macri has met several times with the President and the Prime Minister of Vietnam, in addition to the visit in August by Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie, during which he reaffirmed the strategic relationship.

Finally, Raimondi stated that “in spite of the geographical distance between us, we can recognize our shared history in which common understanding and consensus building translate into substantial agreement on the bilateral and multilateral agenda.”

Press Release No. 358/18