The diplomatic relations between Romania and Vietnam were established more than 70 years ago, on the 3rd of February 1950. This long-lasting relationship between the two countries is the vivid expression of a time-tested partnership. Despite the geographical distance between Romania and Vietnam, both people share many similarities. They are generous, friendly and welcoming people, trustful in their future, faithful to their past, promoters of a world of peace, multilateralism and cooperation.
The past seven decades remarkably witness the way generations of Romanian and Vietnamese people took the traditional friendship further, in a tirelessly and result-oriented way.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Ambassador of Romania to Vietnam
Traditional friendship
The virtue of our relationship, confirmed throughout the years, resides in the trust between our people, in a deep understanding of our history, in the mutual support provided during challenging times.
Seven years after the establishment of the diplomatic bilateral relations, the cooperation between the two countries developed at a major pace with the historical visit of President Ho Chi Minh to Romania in August 1957. The main objectives and priorities of the bilateral cooperation were set up during the bilateral talks, as well as concrete projects in areas of education, oil and gas industry, agriculture. The Romanian assistance in the field of petroleum industry continued even during the Vietnam war and was fundamental for the development of a network of highly skilled engineers and researchers, as well as for the building of modern equipped oil refineries in the southern and central regions of Vietnam.
Romania played an important role in the efforts for a peaceful solution to the Vietnam conflict during 1965-1966 and leading up to the January 1967 “Trinh Signal”, in which North Vietnam officially accepted the possibility of negotiating with the United States. Bucharest significantly contributed in achieving what is commonly considered as the first real breakthrough in the process leading to peace talks.
The bilateral relationship between Romania and Vietnam also develops on a valuable background: the people-to-people contacts developed by the thousands of Vietnamese students and researchers who graduated from prestigious Romanian universities. They have been the very reflection of the mutual trust between our two countries that were to re-define the future dynamics of our bilateral relations. Today they are the vivid memory of Romania’s commitment to the national development of Vietnam in a period of important social and economic changes.
The Vietnam-Romania Friendship Association has been for over more than 30 years since its inception, an active and close partner of our efforts to promote the bilateral agenda of cooperation. I am moved by the devotion of the members of this Association to the Romanian – Vietnamese friendship.
The last two years, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, were a re-confirmation of the enduring nature of our relationship, emphasized by the mutual assistance in fighting the pandemic. Let me mention the face masks donations made in 2020 to Romania by local authorities, by the National Assembly, and the precious contribution to the Red Cross in Romania, noble gestures of affection and support.
In 2021, Romania promptly replied to Vietnam’s necessities in the fight against the pandemic and donated 300 000 doses of vaccines of its national stock, reconfirming the commitment to help each other in need.
The traditional friendship between our countries has also been reflected by the contribution of Romania to the national development of Vietnam, in terms of training, specialized assistance and project development, in the fields of construction industry, oil and gas industry, agriculture, irrigation, railways, geological exploration, transportation, mining.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh receives Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam
Recent facts of the political-diplomatic dialogue
The comprehensive cooperation and the traditional friendship between Romania and Vietnam have reached new momentum in July 2021 with the phone talks held at the highest level of the state. On this occasion, President Klaus Iohannis and President Nguyen Xuan Phuc discussed various measures to extend and deepen the bilateral relations and agreed to maintain and promote exchange mechanisms and cooperation in some prioritized fields such as economy-trade, education-training and labour, among others.
Since 2016, the political bilateral dialogue reached a new dynamic of exchange of high-level contacts: Romanian Prime Minister paid an official visit to Vietnam in 2016, followed by the 2019 visit to Romania of the Prime Minister of Vietnam. Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and Vice President of the National Assembly have visited Romania in 2018, followed by periodical rounds of political bilateral consultation at the level of vice ministers of foreign affairs. Let me also mention the visit to Romania of the Vietnamese Minister of labour, and the visit to Vietnam of the Romanian Minister of economy. In the recent years, the two sides also engaged in a very active parliamentary dialogue at the level of Foreign Affairs Committees and parliamentary friendship groups. These high-level visits and consultations represent a clear expression of both sides determination to take the bilateral cooperation to a new level.
Education - long lasting field of bilateral cooperation
During the last decades, Romania was an academic hub for more than 4000 Vietnamese specialists, many of them contributing, through their expertise, to the prosperity and development of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
On a personal note, allow me to extend a standing invitation to the Embassy of Romania to all those Vietnamese friends that graduated from Romania and that miss a small-talk in Romanian. I am continuing the open door policy towards our Vietnamese friends just as my predecessors did.
The programme on cooperation in the field of education signed in July 2016 between the Ministries of Education of Romania and Vietnam and the full-term governmental scholarships within this framework, the full-term scholarships provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania on an annual basis, the scholarships Eugene Ionesco for Vietnamese experts participating in doctorate and post-doctorate training programs in French in Romania, as well as the scholarships offered to Vietnamese experts through the Erasmus Mundus program of the European Union, created a foundation for the next generations to take further the tradition of cooperation in the field of education.
For Romania, education and promoting education as a tool of foreign policy represent a strategic objective. As a matter of fact, it is one of the major objectives of Romania’s participation at ASEM. In 2019, Romania organized, for the first time in the history of ASEM, the meeting of the ASEM ministers of education back-to-back with the reunion of ASEM rectors and the reunion of ASEF students. Romania also hosted in June 2018 the 38th ASEF board of governors’ meeting. Both events were successfully attended by the Vietnamese side, opening this way new avenues for future-oriented projects.
Education in the field of technology of information and cooperation in the field of digitalization are of mutual interest for Romania and Vietnam. Romania’s flourishing IT sector, its expertise in the IT research, cyber security, recognized at international level, are future-oriented incentives for our two countries with a positive direct contribution to the development of our societies.
Romania is the 6th country in the world in terms of certified IT specialists per capita, thanks to its educational system that favors multilingual and technical skills. Higher education in the IT area is provided by 5 high-ranking polytechnic universities, 59 domain specific universities, and 174 private colleges, which together produce over 5.000 computer science and engineering graduates per year. The main academic centers beside the capital Bucharest, are Cluj, Iași, Timișoara, Brașov, Craiova and Sibiu. The Romanian IT specialists are known for their broad technical expertise, their flexibility, enthusiasm and excellent language skills. UiPath, the biggest robotic process automation (RPA) company in the world, is just one the most successful Romanian ”product” of the national education system in the field of IT.
When it comes to a smooth collaboration with foreign companies, Romania tops the conventional outsourcing destinations as it is the 2nd most multilingual country in Europe, with an English fluency rate greater than 80% in the IT sector alongside many other foreign languages. According to Brainbench, Romania is ranked in the top 5 countries worldwide in terms of skills in computer technical support, technical help desk, network technical support, computer electronics, telecommunications, LAN/WLAN communications, network design, ASP.NET, HTML, PHP, web development concepts and many other. To name some of the Romanian software products that have gained international recognition by winning awards on the global market, one could look at BitDefender IT security and antivirus protection, SIVECO’s AeL eLearning platform, the Intuitext e-learning suite from Softwin, and Transart’s ERP and sales force automation solutions.
In December 2020, the Romanian expertise in IT was acknowledged at the EU level by establishing in Bucharest the new European Union Cybersecurity Centre which is meant to improve cyber-resilience and support cybersecurity research across the EU. Investing in cyber-resilience is a new area that Romania is considering investing even more resources.
Vietnam: important trade partner in Asia-Pacific
Since 2016, the growing importance of the economic and trade ties between the two countries was underlined at all levels of the bilateral political dialogue. During bilateral consultations at governmental level, within the framework of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Science & Technology Cooperation in 2016 and the 16th session of the Joint Economic Commission Romania-Vietnam, in 2019, concrete measures were proposed in economic and trade areas aiming to intensify the bilateral cooperation. I remember them vividly as I was part of the Romanian negotiating team.
The signing of the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) in June 2019, one of the major success of the EU commercial policy reached during the Romanian Presidency of EU Council, have also fostered economic cooperation between Romania and Vietnam, bringing multi-faceted benefits for the companies, workers and consumers from both countries. As part of the half-year mandate, one of the main priorities of the Romanian EU Presidency has been the signing of the two agreements between EU and Vietnam. The Romanian EU Presidency has made substantial efforts to promote the signing of both agreements by the end of its mandate, in June 2019.
Romania is actively supporting the strong determination of Vietnam to promote close cooperation with the EU in all fields, being among the first three EU Members States which ratified the IPA.
The commercial turnover between the two countries has been growing significantly in the last 3 years, although it has yet to reach the true potential of the two economies, which are developing dynamically.
As of December 2020, the value of the bilateral trade was 272 million USD, up 1,83% over the same period in 2019. Exports amounted to 48 million USD and imports increased by 7,99% to 224.2 million USD. The main Romanian export products are: pharmaceuticals and fertilizers, machines, apparatus and electric equipment, food and drinks, common metals, wood, textiles, plastics and rubber, medical optical devices. Romania imports from Vietnam electric equipment, textiles, plastics and rubber, common metals, glass and ceramic products, furniture, fruits and vegetables, vehicle parts and transport equipment, footwear.
Enhancing bilateral cooperation in multilateral fora
The world is currently facing a wide range of challenges, from widespread conflicts, extreme poverty, climate change, human rights violations, to the unprecedented situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the main lessons we have learned during the past months, which were very intense and complex for diplomacies around the world, is the crucial need for effective and innovative multilateral cooperation.
We have also learned that the rule-based international order – with the UN at its core – must be upheld and strengthened, in order to effectively address these challenges. As unconditional supporters of multilateralism and rule-based international order, Romania and Vietnam are restlessly acting towards supporting these two goals.
Romania and Vietnam actively coordinate and support each other within the United Nations, the International Francophone Organization and the ASEM fora. Romania supported Vietnam’s candidature for a non-permanent member seat of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 and its mandate priorities aimed at peace, security and common prosperity enhancement, in the region and the world.
Romania welcomed the successful results of Vietnam ASEAN Chair in 2020 and supported the Vietnam’s foreign policy objective for an ASEAN centrality role in the region.
The view from Bucharest is clear: within ASEAN, Vietnam is one of the most forward-leaning members of the organization in embracing the Indo-Pacific approach, by actively supporting the adoption of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), in June 2019. Romania highly appreciates Vietnam’s contribution to peace, stability, cooperation and development of the region based on rules and respect for international law, as well as respecting the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, including ASEAN’s central role in the evolving regional structure.
Romania fully supports the peaceful settlement of disputes in order to ensure stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea in line with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the East Sea.
Connectivity – key to overpass current and future challenges
Romania and Vietnam are natural partners. They are both coastal states with strategic locations and delta countries which are facing the challenges of climate change. In this respect, Romania and Vietnam can learn a lot from each other. Romania is willing to share its expertise and experience in the field of connectivity as co-initiator or member of regional cooperation instruments and initiatives, such as the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), and the EU Danube Strategy. Concrete steps in this direction were taken during the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council in 2019, when the Romanian government strongly supported the adoption of the EU Strategy on connecting Europe and Asia.
The strategy also refers to the importance of the Black Sea Area for the connectivity between Europe and Asia, bringing back to life the strategic role of our geographical region for the relations between the EU and the states in Asia-Pacific.
Fighting together against Covid 19
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown, once more, that global challenges require common action, solidarity and cooperation. Starting with 2020, Romania has redirected more than half of its budget for international development cooperation to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, with special emphasis on consolidating the capacity of partners’ health system.
On the foundation of the two countries’ solid friendship, the Romanian Government has decided to donate 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam, in July 2021. The vaccines arrived in Vietnam in August 2021, transported by the Romanian national carrier, TAROM. It was a very emotional moment for me, and I feel privileged to have been part of the Romanian team that made possible an urgent response to the needs of a close friend.
As unconditional supporters of multilateralism and of the rules-based international order – with the UN at its core – Romania and Vietnam supported the initiatives of the UN system, aiming at offering a global solution to the pandemic. In this respect, both countries welcomed the Resolution United response against global health threats: combating COVID-19 adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2020.
In the end…
Serving as Ambassador of Romania to Vietnam is a privilege for me, but also a high responsibility, given the historical bonds between our two countries. We can count on a strong and mature background of our bilateral relations, on its human value.
It is the right time for the bilateral relationship to capitalize on those areas of excellence of both Romania and Vietnam, building on the past that brought us together during the challenging history of the 20th century and that creates immense opportunities for further cooperation the 21st century and beyond.
The future of our relation is in our hands! We can do more for the Romanian – Vietnamese friendship to multiply its layers of cooperation. Let’s do it! (Hãy cùng nhau hành động).
Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam - Cristina Romila
