Austria’s Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg received a welcome from Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi on Monday.

This is his first trip to Vietnam and the first visit to the Southeast Asian nation by an Austrian foreign minister in more than 50 years.

His three-day Vietnam visit was made at the invitation of Minister Son.

The Vietnamese government leader expected Austria to facilitate Vietnam’s exports such as electronics, textiles and garments, footwear, and farm produce during a reception for the top Austrian official.

Besides, the prime minister proposed the two nations boost bilateral cooperation in various fields, including science-technology, infrastructure, labor, training, digitalization, circular economy, and green transition.

Vietnam and Austria have much potential to expand partnership in culture-art-music exchange and tourism as the two nations have a long-lasting history and a wide diversity of cultural traditions, said PM Chinh.

Furthermore, the prime minister proposed the Austrian government urge the Austrian parliament to ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and ask the European Commission to soon remove the ‘yellow card’ on Vietnamese seafood exports.

The ‘yellow card’ is a kind of warning issued by the European Commission to countries involved in illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Austrian enterprises have shown their interest in cooperation with Vietnamese partners, said Schallenberg.

As such, he said that the two countries should foster the partnership in the labor field via the agreements between the two governments and universities.

First visit to Vietnam by an Austrian foreign minister in 50 years

Speaking at a talk with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Son, the Austrian official said that Austria expected to enhance relations with Vietnam and considered Vietnam its crucial trade partner in Southeast Asia.

Austria will consider the proposal from the Vietnamese government to soon ratify the EVIPA and throw its support behind the removal of the ‘yellow card’ on Vietnam’s seafood exports, said Schallenberg.

Vietnam and Austria established diplomatic ties in 1972. This is the first visit to Vietnam by an Austrian foreign minister in 50 years, according to Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Trung Kien.

This is also the most important high-ranking visit since Austrian President Heinz Fischer visited Vietnam in 2012.

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