Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong and his spouse are slated to pay visits to Austria, Italy, and the Vatican from July 23 to 28, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

His visits will be made at the invitations of Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and Pope Francis, the ministry said on Monday.

The trips have been scheduled as the relations between Vietnam and the two European Union (EU) member countries as well as the Vatican have been developing well.

Vietnam and Austria celebrated 50 years of diplomatic ties last year, with their relations fruitfully developing in all fields including trade and investment.

In April this year, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg paid a three-day visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son, focusing on specific steps to promote the comprehensive ties between Austria and Vietnam.

Austria considers Vietnam a crucial partner in Southeast Asia, Schallenberg said. 

Meanwhile, this year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Italy, and also 10 years of the strategic partnership between the two nations.

Vietnam is currently Italy’s largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations while Italy is Vietnam’s fourth-largest EU partner.

The Southeast Asian country has also seen its relationship with the Vatican making great progress over the past years. 

In October 2018, Vietnam’s then Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh visited the Vatican and had meetings with Pope Francis and Secretary of State of the Vatican City Cardinal Pietro Parolin to discuss measures to promote the cooperative relations between the two sides.

At the 10th meeting of the Joint Working Group of Vietnam and the Holy See in March 2023, both sides acknowledged the progress in Vietnam - Vatican relations, including regular contacts and consultations, the exchange of high-level delegations, and frequent pastoral visits to Vietnam by the Non-Resident Papal Representative, Archbishop Marek Zalewski.

They discussed and basically agreed on the operation mechanism for a resident representative of the Holy See as well as its resident representative office in Vietnam in the coming time.​

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