Argentina expects strategic partnership with Vietnam

Newly-appointed Argentinian ambassador to Vietnam Luis Pablo María Beltramino has expressed his hope that the bilateral relations would be upgraded to the strategic partnership from the current status of comprehensive partnership, which was set up 11 years ago.

Argentinian ambassador to Vietnam Luis Pablo María Beltramino presented the Letter of Credence to Vietnam's President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on June 20. Photo: VNA

The ambassador said he would do his best to contribute to upgrading the ties, especially in the context that the two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties in October 2023, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

Argentina was one of the first three countries together with Cuba and Chile in Latin America establishing relations with Vietnam.

Argentina is Vietnam’s 3rd largest trade partner in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico. In 2020, the two-way trade reached US$3.95 billion, up 4.3% on-year.

Luis Pablo María Beltramino said the room for cooperation remains large with politics, trade, and technical collaboration.

Political dialogues have been held at all levels, especially high-ranking ones.

Economic ties show improvements as Argentina is ready to diversify products to meet Vietnam’s demand while the Southeast Asian country offers a wider range of items like technology, textile-garment, and footwear.

The 7th meeting of the inter-governmental committee on economic trade and scientific-technological cooperation in August is expected to further boost economic relations between the two sides. 

Regarding technology cooperation, the ambassador highlighted areas that are strengths of Argentina, including hi-tech and satellite services supporting the study of soils, meteorology, and agricultural production efficiency.

In culture and sports relations, the ambassador shared an idea to promote cooperation in football and suggested football players from Argentina would open training courses in Vietnam while the Southeast Asian country would assist Argentina in developing badminton, one of the popular sport games in Vietnam.

Earlier in April, Beltramino put forth the idea of establishing an Argentina-Vietnam Friendship School at a meeting with Nguyen Phuong Nga, chairwoman of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO).