Argentina and Vietnam agreed to continue deepening the comprehensive partnership between the two countries, with a view to establishing a strategic partnership.
This consensus was reflected in a joint statement issued on Thursday (21.2.2019) at the close of the visit from February 19 to 21 of the President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, to the Asian country.
The full text of the document published by the Vietnam News Agency is below:
1. At the invitation of the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, the President of the Argentine Republic, Mauricio Macri, paid a state visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on February 19 and 21, 2019.
2. The Presidents held an exchange on topics on the bilateral agenda, on the respective regions and on international issues of common interest. Given the significant progress in political, economic, commercial and cooperation matters, they agreed to continue deepening the existing comprehensive partnership between both countries, with a view to establishing a strategic partnership.
3. The Parties agreed to continue contacts at the highest level and to promote exchanges between national, provincial and municipal government authorities, legislative bodies and other institutions, in order to deepen political and institutional ties between the two countries.
4. The leaders noted the positive results of the 2018th Meeting of the Vietnam-Argentina Intergovernmental Committee on Economic and Trade, which took place in Buenos Aires in October XNUMX, and agreed to continue with this mechanism in order to ensure concrete results.
5. The leaders recalled that several reciprocal business missions were carried out in 2018, and stressed the importance of the Business Forum held on February 21 in Hanoi. Both Presidents hope that dialogue between companies from both countries will continue to increase trade, both in the food and industrial sectors. They also stated that this type of forum promotes the development and linkage of talent and resources from both sides, and urged related institutions and companies to continue working in this direction.
Considering that Expo 2023 - of which Argentina will be the host country - will have as its central theme "Creative industries in digital convergence", both Parties agreed to promote the participation of Vietnamese companies in the sector.
In order to strengthen the institutional relationship based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Department of Trade Promotion of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Argentine Agency for Investment and International Trade of Trade and Investment Promotion of Argentina, they urged to continue carrying out activities for the joint promotion of investment and trade between both countries.
6. The leaders expressed their satisfaction with the level of exchange achieved in the economic and commercial sphere and agreed to continue making efforts to increase and diversify it for the balanced benefit of both parties, through trade missions, the Argentina-Vietnam Intergovernmental Committee on Economy and Trade and official visits. In this framework, they committed to promote the incorporation of products with greater added value, as well as to strengthen cooperation between phytosanitary and zoosanitary control agencies in matters of market access, in addition to continuing cooperation and technical assistance actions. Along the same lines, Argentina expresses its strong interest in working together with Vietnam in the area of Agricultural Biotechnology.
The leaders welcomed the agreement to open four products from each country: the immediate opening of the market for lemon and grapefruit from Argentina, as well as dragon fruit (Pitahaya) and litchi from Vietnam, and committed to materialize, as soon as possible, with the sanitary measures for said products, the opening of the market and those for orange and mandarin from Argentina, as well as mango and longan from Vietnam.
Argentina stresses its interest in continuing to work to quickly establish access to the Vietnamese market for apples, pears, blueberries and cherries, as well as pork, bovine, equine and bovine semen and embryos, fishmeal and fish oil, and honey, among others. For its part, Vietnam requests the implementation and improvement of access to the Argentine market for vegetables, tubers, fruits, pepper, cashew nuts, aquatic products, wood, wood products, footwear and accessories, textiles and synthetic fabrics, rubber and its derivatives, electronic products, machines and mechanical tools, agricultural machinery, porcelain, ceramic and handicraft products, among others.
The leaders agreed to continue to intensify tourism in order to bring economic benefits and contribute to improving knowledge and trust between the two peoples. In this regard, they approved the study of reciprocal application of measures aimed at facilitating the entry of citizens of both countries.
7. The Presidents agreed that a trade agreement between Mercosur and Vietnam could have a positive economic impact and agreed to study the possibility of negotiating such an agreement.
Vietnam thanks the Argentine Government for fully recognizing Vietnam as a market economy in accordance with WTO agreements and states that the same recognition by all member countries of the Common Market of South America (MERCOSUR) will be an important basis for the potential activation of negotiations for a trade agreement between Vietnam and MERCOSUR.
8. Argentina and Vietnam highlighted the valuable contribution of technical cooperation as a tool for strengthening the bilateral relationship between the two countries. The Parties recognized the cooperation program focused on the axes of agroindustry and forensic anthropology, through which 15 projects financed by the Argentine Fund for International Cooperation (FO.AR) have been executed. The Argentine Party highlighted that Vietnam is the Southeast Asian country with which it maintains the most intense bilateral relationship in terms of technical cooperation.
Argentina and Vietnam highlighted the remarkable exchange of experiences, knowledge and technologies between their technical institutions through the transfer of capacities, know-how and technologies. In the field of agro-industry, this exchange was evidenced at the Regional Workshop on Technical Cooperation on the subject, which took place in Hanoi in July 2018, from which new initiatives emerged in areas of mutual interest. Likewise, Vietnam valued the important results of Argentine technical cooperation for the identification of the remains of War Martyrs in Vietnam, led by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF). The Parties agreed to continue their cooperation in this field within the framework of the 2019-2021 Action Plan between the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Argentina on technical cooperation for the development of capacities for the identification of remains of Vietnamese martyrs.
Both Parties reiterated their firm commitment to the negotiating process of the Second United Nations High-Level Conference on South-South Cooperation, to be held in Buenos Aires on March 20-22, 2019. In this regard, they agreed to work to ensure that the final document makes visible the contribution of developing countries to sustainable development and, in turn, considers triangular cooperation initiatives as effective mechanisms to overcome the development challenges that still prevail in their territories.
9. The leaders expressed their interest in cooperating in the peaceful uses of atomic energy and highlighted the potential for cooperation in the areas of research reactor production and atomic energy applications in the health sector, through the Argentine company INVAP and Vietnamese institutes with expertise in atomic energy issues.
10. The leaders expressed interest in promoting cooperation in the field of defense, as well as the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation in the field of defense in the future, with a focus on sectors of mutual interest such as military industry, United Nations peacekeeping operations, logistics and military medicine.
11. The Presidents stressed the importance of cooperating and exchanging information in order to combat transnational organized crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and human trafficking. They also highlighted the importance of participating in the solution of global security and order issues through the competent agencies of both countries, with a view to continuing to advance in the negotiation of a Cooperation Agreement on the prevention and fight against transnational organized crime and a Cooperation Agreement on the prevention, investigation and fight against human trafficking, and to provide assistance and protection for victims between both Governments in 2019.
15. The leaders agreed to move forward in the exchange of experiences regarding public health care, especially policies related to the abusive consumption of alcohol and tobacco. In this context, they ratified the commitments assumed in the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2009 between the Drug Administrations of both countries (ANMAT – DAV) and urged said organizations to maintain dialogue to update the topics of mutual interest set forth in said Memorandum of Understanding.
16. Both in which sovereignty and territorial disputes must be resolved by peaceful means on the basis of international law.
17. Argentina and Vietnam reaffirmed the importance of a free and open rules-based multilateral trading system with a transparent, inclusive, non-discriminatory and equitable character, with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core. The Parties supported joint cooperation to improve the functioning of the WTO, including the negotiation, monitoring and dispute settlement mechanisms, in order to appropriately address the challenges currently facing the system, for the benefit of all citizens and businesses. They recognized the need to discuss ways to modernize the WTO in an inclusive manner, taking due account of the needs of developing countries.
18. The Heads of State expressed their satisfaction with the signing, during the visit, of various cooperation agreements in the areas of culture, forensic medicine and public media, as well as the one signed between the respective business chambers.
19. President Mauricio Macri thanked President Nguyen Phu Trong for the warm and friendly welcome given by the Vietnamese Government and people during his visit and extended a cordial invitation to the Vietnamese President to pay an official visit to the Argentine Republic. President Nguyen Phu Trong accepted with pleasure and asked to coordinate the visit through diplomatic channels.
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