At the invitation of Hungarian President Ader Janos, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang arrived in Budapest, Hungary, on Sunday, starting his three-day State visit to the country.

Laszlo Szoke, head of the Presidential Office’s External Relations Department, Eszter Torda, Hungarian Ambassador to Vietnam, and Vietnamese Ambassador to Hungary Ngo Duy Ngo welcomed President Sang at Liszt Ferenc airport yesterday morning, September 15. President Sang was scheduled to meet with staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Hungary on his first day in the central European country. President Sang expressed his pleasure with the Vietnamese community’s contribution to Hungarian socio-economic development. He also urged the Vietnamese Embassy staff to promote their role as a bridge to connect and strengthen the multifaceted cooperation between the two countries. Hungary has helped train thousands of Vietnamese students since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1950. At present nearly 4,000 Vietnamese people are working in all fields in Hungary. Today, September 16, President Sang will participate in meetings with Hungarian leaders, including talks with his counterpart, President Janos, as well as Speaker of Parliament Laszlo Kover and Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

After ending his visit to Hungary, the President will continue his State visit to Denmark, which was among the first Western countries to establish diplomatic ties with Vietnam. The two countries' official ties began on November 25, 1971. As one of Vietnam's biggest non-refundable ODA providers, Denmak has offered Vietnam nearly $1.2 billion since 1972, mostly spent in the fields of judicial reform, education, climate change and environment.