Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong and his spouse Phan Thi Thanh Tam arrived in Vienna on Sunday afternoon (Austrian time) to commence their official visit to Austria at the invitation of Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.

President Thuong’s three-day Austria visit is part of his trip to Europe, which is set to wrap up on Friday.

The Vietnamese state president and his spouse were welcomed at Vienna International Airport by officials from the Austrian Foreign Ministry, Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Trung Kien, and other officials from the embassy.

This is the first visit to Austria by a Vietnamese state president in the past 15 years and the first visit to a European nation by President Thuong.

The Vietnamese state president was scheduled to visit the Vietnamese Embassy in Austria to meet some representatives of the Vietnamese community in the European nation after his arrival.

He also held talks with Alfred Gerstl, chairman of the Austria - Vietnam Friendship Association.

Apart from receiving the Vietnamese ambassador to Austria, President Thuong met with six other Vietnamese ambassadors to Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Hungary, and Slovakia, which share border links with Austria, on Sunday afternoon.

During the meetings, these ambassadors affirmed Vietnam’s position has been leveled up in the global market in general and in the European Union in particular.

Vietnamese exporters should focus on improving the quality of goods and boosting innovation to tap the selective European market, said these ambassadors.

President Thuong encouraged these ambassadors to foster diplomatic activities to contribute to Vietnam’s socio-economic development.

He underscored that one million Vietnamese living in Europe form a big community, so Vietnam’s representative agencies in the continent should always support the Vietnamese people.

Within the framework of his Austria visit, President Thuong will hold talks with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Bellen and other top Austrian officials.

His visit was made after the celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2022.

On December 1, 1972, when war was not yet over in Vietnam, Austria was one of the Western countries that established diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

The Vietnam - Austria relationship has strengthened in various fields over the past 50 years.

The two nations have maintained all-level delegation exchanges and held meetings on the sidelines of international forums.

Austria is one of Vietnam’s 10 biggest import markets in Europe, while Vietnam is the European country’s leading trade partner in Southeast Asia.

Two-way trade reached US$2.79 billion in 2022.

After his visit to Austria, President Thuong will continue his Europe trip to Italy and the Vatican at the invitations of Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Pope Francis, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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