The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, hosted today the Vice President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Ms. Nguyen Thi Doan, who is paying an official visit to the Republic of Macedonia.

The relations between the Republic of Macedonia and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are characterized by friendship, respect, mutual trust, but lack concrete content especially in the field of economic cooperation, the development of which requires creation of prerequisite by the two countries in the future, was assessed today by the Macedonian President and the Vice President of Vietnam.

"We have had very constructive and useful discussions. We agree that the relations between the two countries in the past 20 years, although the political dialogue is modest, insufficient specific content of cooperation, are, however, characterized by friendship, mutual respect and trust," President Ivanov said. He added that confirmation of the friendly relations is the fact that Vietnam uses the constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia both at bilateral and international level. President Ivanov informed that at the today's meeting with Ms. Thi Doan they agreed in the coming period, with mutual commitment, to offset the lost, to intensify the political dialogue and strengthen the contractual framework thus provide specific content to the cooperation between the two countries. "Today, we are making a significant step forward in that direction, with the signing of the Agreement on Economic Cooperation between the governments of both countries. I expect in the future intensification of contacts and maximum commitment to the use of all possibilities for enhanced economic cooperation as the first priority in our relations. Further improvement of the contractual framework will open perspectives for cooperation in other areas of mutual interest in education, culture, health care," President Ivanov said.

Ms. Thi Doan agreed with the position of President Ivanov that commitment of both countries is needed to develop the relations in the future. "President Ivanov and I agreed that the two countries should continue to maintain regular exchange of visits at all levels, to work to the promotion of cooperation in the field of economy, education, culture, tourism, in order to effectively implement the signed agreements on cooperation in the field of trade and investment," Thi Doan said. She added that it is necessary to create better conditions for businesses and investors, for market research and particularly the strength areas of both countries, such as mining, food industry, agriculture, construction, transport and services.
Ms. Thi Doan said that good, friendly relations, filled with trust and respect can be the basis for future cooperation. "President Ivanov and I exchanged information on the situation in both countries, assessed the bilateral relations in the past, discussed international and regional issues of mutual interest. We believe that in the near future the traditionally good friendly relations between Vietnam and Macedonia will develop positively in many areas and at all levels. We discussed specific measures to boost bilateral cooperation between the two countries and multilateral relations in the period to come," the Vice President of Vietnam said.

Both interlocutors concluded that multilaterally there is close communication between the two countries and that consent is reached to further strengthen the cooperation within the UN, UNESCO and the Organization of Francophone. This is the first visit of a high Vietnamese state representative of the Republic of Macedonia at a time when the two countries mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.