Vietnamese State President Luong Cuong’s official visits to Chile and Peru and attendance at the 2024 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Lima from November 9 to 16 will help promote the traditional friendship and political confidence with the two Latin American nations while deepening the relationship with the APEC member states, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Thanh Hang.

As scheduled, State President Cuong will pay an official visit to Chile from November 9 to 12 and then arrive in Peru to officially visit the country and attend the 2024 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week from November 12 to 16.

These will be the first overseas trips by Cuong since he took office last month.

According to Hang, this is the first visit to Chile by a Vietnamese state president in 15 years and coincides with the 55th anniversary of the historic meeting between Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh and Chilean President Salvador Allende, a cornerstone that made Chile Vietnam's first diplomatic partner in South America in 1971.  

The bilateral relationship has since flourished, particularly in trade, with two-way trade has experienced remarkable growth, quadrupling over the past decade to reach US$1.5 billion last year, according to the Vietnam News Agency. 

As the first Latin American nation to sign a free trade agreement with Vietnam in 2024, Chile has been an important partner of the Southeast Asian country in the region.   

“The visit will bring 'new vitality' to the Vietnam-Chile relationship, especially in areas where the two sides have a lot of potential for cooperation,” Hang affirmed.

Meanwhile, the Peru trip will mark the first-ever visit by a state president of Vietnam, taking place as the two countries celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

Currently, Peru is Vietnam’s sixth-largest trading partner in Latin America, while Vietnam is Peru's biggest trading partner in ASEAN, with bilateral trade reaching almost $500 million in 2023 and nearing $300 million in the first seven months of 2024.

Commenting on the 2024 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, which will be hosted by Peru, Hang noted that it will provide an opportunity for State President Cuong to meet with APEC leaders, including many of Vietnam’s strategic and comprehensive strategic partners, to further strengthen Vietnam’s relationships within APEC.

The Vietnamese leader’s participation in the event, coinciding with the 35th anniversary of the forum, will affirm Vietnam’s commitment to addressing regional and global issues.

This includes advancing international economic integration, creating new drivers for regional growth, and reinforcing APEC’s role as a leading economic forum.

At the upcoming event, President Cuong is expected to present “strategic and breakthrough proposals” to enhance APEC’s role in international economic cooperation and connectivity, addressing challenges faced by the global community and the Asia-Pacific region in particular.

“The coming event will be a chance for Vietnam, as the host of APEC 2027, to promote the realization of the APEC Vision to 2040 that our country initiated in 2017 and has since developed with other APEC members,” Hang added.

Highlighting Vietnam's significant contributions since joining APEC, including hosting the forum in 2006 and 2017, Deputy Minister Hang affirmed that Vietnam will continue to play an active and responsible role in the key events of the 2024 APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Peru.

The week will feature the 31st APEC Summit and related meetings, as well as the APEC Business Summit, which will bring together over 1,000 leading businesses from across the region.

Like us on Facebook or  follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!