(VOVworld) - Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos paid an official visit to Vietnam from July 11 to 14. During the visit, he held talks with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, met Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong and President Tran Dai Quang. A joint statement wrote that during talks between the two Prime Ministers, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Vietnam treasures the ties of friendship and cooperation with traditional friends, including Romania.

Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos

PM Phuc said the first visit by the Romanian leader add fresh impetus to traditional friendship and all-around cooperation between the two countries in the time ahead.  At the talks, the two PMs consented to fully realize the Vietnam-Romania Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation mechanism, boost two-way trade, and encourage investment in infrastructure, energy, food processing, pharmaceuticals, environmental protection, water resources management and tourism. They pledged to step up cooperation education and training, science and technology and defence and security.  The Vietnamese government leader thanked the Romanian government for doubling scholarships for Vietnamese students to 20 each year as from 2017, as well as Romanian authorities for helping Vietnamese nationals settle down their lives in the host country. Regarding regional and global issues of common concern, the two PMs expressed their pleasure with the close and effective cooperation at global forums. As an active member of the European Union (EU), Romania backs the strengthening of the relationship between Vietnam and the EU, and calls on the EU to recognize Vietnam as a full market economy soon. Both welcomed early finalization of the Vietnam EU Free Trade Agreement. On the East Sea issue, they expressed concern over the recent developments and underlined the need to settle disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), toward the early formulation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea in order to ensure peace, stability, security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom, and trade in the East Sea.